Tyrrell, John

Tyrrell, John, distinguished English musicologist and lexicographer; b. Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, Aug. 17, 1942. He was educated at the univs. of Cape Town (1960-63; B.Mus., 1963), Oxford (1964-68; Ph.D., 1969, with the diss. Janáček’s Stylistic Development as an Operatic Composer as Evidenced in his Revisions of the First Five Operas),and Brno (1966-67). He taught at the univs. of Cape Town (1969), Stellenbosch (1970), and Briming-ham (1975-76), and was assoc. ed. of The Musical Times (1972-76) and a member of the editorial staff of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1973-76). He was a lecturer (1976-89), reader in opera studies (1989-95), and prof, of music (1995-97) at the Univ. of Nottingham. From 1992 to 1994 he also was a British Academy research reader in the humanities. In 1996 he became deputy ed. and in 1997 executive ed. of the rev. edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2000). Tyrrell is the leading authority on the life and music of Janáček, and has made invaluable contributions to the study of that Czech master.

Writings

With R. Wise, A Guide to International Congress Reports in Music 1900-1975 (London, 1979); Leos Janáček: Kát’a Kabanová (Cambridge, 1982); Czech Opera (Cambridge, 1988); Janáček’s Operas: A Documentary Account (London, 1992); ed. and tr. Intimate Letters: Leoŝ Janáček to Kamila Stösslová (London, 1994); with N. Simeone and A. Nêmcová, Janáček’s Works: A Catalogue of the Music and Writings of Leoŝ Janáček (Oxford, 1997); ed. and tr. Zdenka Janáčková: My Life with Janáček (London, 1998).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire