This paperback edition is updated to include new insights into Holst's life and work resulting from the discovery of important unseen archival materials.

Imogen Holst was one of the most wide-ranging and highly regarded of musicians. Popular with all who knew her, she was intensively protective of her inner life, reminding one friend of a 'locked door of which she had thrown away the key'. Imogen Holst: A Life in Music uses a wealth of newly discovered material to explore the complexities and contradictions of her life and career, drawing on her own writings - ranging from heartfelt early poetry, through correspondence, to a series of journals that maintain a colourful record of her travels and achievements. Most revealing of these is the daily journal that she kept at the start of her working association with Britten, a document that provides a unique insight both into her own thoughts, and into the professional and domestic life of a major composer. Extensively revised with new material, the book also includes a study of Imogen Holst's music and a chronological list of her works, revealing her as a composer of tremendous talent, whose music deserves to be much more familiar. CHRISTOPHER GROGAN is Director of Collections and Heritage at the Britten-Pears Foundation.

Review
This magnificent centenary volume...(miraculously edited to her own high standards)...documents a lifetime's pioneering achievement...A compelling portrait emerges of a single minded and uniquely talented woman. GRAMOPHONE (Geraint Lewis)An encounter with a true original...Grogan has put together an excellent critical biography. TLSThis book - available at a remarkably reasonable price given the quality of its production...is a wonderful centenary tribute to a fascinating and often underappreciated figure. BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY NEWSExcellently written...a successful, lively portrait of an important personality in C20th British musical life. DIE MUSIKFORSCHUNG