I cannot claim the closeness of the many years of friendship that many of those who have written tributes to Michael Kennedy can look back on with fondness and comfort. But for years I had admired his writings and I treasure our first meeting at the Elgar-Vaughan Williams symposium in 2008. He could not have been kinder as we shared the stage, and so immediately debunked the old adage “Don’t meet your heroes”.
It was impossible not to warm to Michael, whose humility and easy friendliness in the company of those of us fortunate enough to encounter him were readily apparent. I was especially pleased when the Elgar Society widened in 2010 the criteria for awarding our highest honour, the Elgar Medal, to embrace citizens of the UK in addition to foreign nationals, because we immediately agreed the first recipient should be Michael. In the citation, it read with absolute truth that “no-one has done more to promote the cause over such a long time and contribute so much to Elgar appreciation and scholarship as Michael Kennedy”.
His books, innumerable articles, reviews, programme notes and contributions to films and other publications added up to an immense body of work – and they were not, of course, exclusive to Elgar. In all of these activities, the citation continued, “he combines the highest levels of scholarship with musical sympathy and a warm humanity”.
Subsequent meetings with him and Joyce simply confirmed this. His A.T. Shaw lecture on The Kingdom in 2012 was exceptionally fine, bringing forth an emotional standing ovation. Despite his illness, he continued to give generously of his time to so many members of our Society, and so there were frequent opportunities for us to see him and enjoy his company. My la
st memory of him was at the celebratory luncheon of the North West Branch on 23 November 2014 when, ever the modest guest of honour, he continued to bring forth admiration and affection from all present.
Scholarship, the Society and each one of us privileged to know him are all the poorer for his passing.
Steven Halls
Chairman, the Elgar Society