Gerald Abraham

Abraham was born at Newport, Isle of Wight, and initially trained for a naval career in nearby Portsmouth until ill-health forced a change of direction.

He was Gramophone Department Director from 1942 until 1947, an important post during wartime when the BBC's broadcasting of live music was severely restricted.

III, Ars Nova and the Renaissance, in collaboration with Dom Anselm Hughes) came out in 1960 and the last (Vol, IX, Romanticism (1830-1890) was published posthumously in 1990.

Additionally, he served numerous other positions in both ceremonial and official statuses, including: In 1936 he married (Isobel) Pat Robinson.

They had one daughter, Frances, and lived for many years in Hampstead (at 106 Frognal, Walter Besant's old house), where they held many hospitable "open evenings" of music.

[2] In the Musical Times Alec Hyatt King remembered him as "unforgettable...burly of stature and with a rumbustious sense of humour: seldom did he come off second best".