Kennedy, (George) Michael (Sinclair)

Kennedy, (George) Michael (Sinclair), esteemed English music critic and writer on music; b. Manchester, Feb. 19, 1926. He was educated at the Berkhamsted School. In 1941 he joined the staff of the London Daily Telegraph, where he was its northern music critic (from 1950), northern ed. (1960–86), and joint chief music critic (1986–89). From 1989 he was music critic of the Sunday Telegraph. In 1981 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 1997 he became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In addition to his perceptive music criticism, he has published a number of valuable biographies and reference works.

Writings

The Hallé Tradition: A Century of Music (Manchester, 1960); The Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams (London, 1964; rev. 1980; 2^nd ed., 1996, as A Catalogue of the Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams); Portrait of Elgar (London, 1968; rev. 1982; 3^rd ed., 1987); Elgar: Orchestral Music (London, 1969) Portrait of Manchester (Manchester, 1970); A History of the Royal Manchester Coll. of Music (Manchester, 1971); Barbirolli: Conductor Laureate (London, 1971); Mahler (London, 1974; rev. 1990); ed. The Autobiography of Charles Hallé, with Correspondence and Diaries (London, 1976); Richard Strauss (London, 1976; rev. 1983; rev. and aug., 1995); ed. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (Oxford, 3^rd ed., 1980; rev. 1995); Britten (London, 1981; rev. 1993); The Halle 1858-1983 (Manchester, 1983); Strauss: Tone Poems (London, 1984); The Oxford Dictionary of Music (Oxford, 1985; 2^nd ed., rev, 1994); Portrait of Walton (London, 1989); Music Enriches All: 21 Years of the Royal Northern Coll. of Music, Manchester (Manchester, 1994); Richard Strauss: Man, Musician, Enigma (Cambridge, 1999).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire