I did not know Diana McVeagh personally, but I own her books on Elgar and Gerald Finzi and was totally charmed by this video memoir curated and introduced by Byron Adams. By my calculations, McVeagh was just weeks shy of her 97th birthday when she shared her recollections of Finzi, Herbert Howells, and Ralph & Ursula Vaughan Williams – all of whom she knew – with wonderful side-stories about Sir Edward Elgar and Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, among others. It’s an invaluable document, full of wit and personality, and guaranteed to elicit a few chuckles.

My thanks to Byron for making it possible. The interview was conducted during the 2023 Bard Music Festival.

McVeagh died on July 2, two months shy of her 99th birthday. R.I.P.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SjZTNK_3aI

Photo borrowed from Piers Lane’s Facebook page