Pound, Ezra (Loomis)

Pound, Ezra (Loomis) , greatly significant American man of letters and amateur composer; b. Hailey, Idaho, Oct. 30, 1885; d. Venice, Nov. 1, 1972. He was educated at Hamilton Coll. (Ph.B., 1905) and the Univ. of Pa. (M.A., 1906). He went to England, where he established himself as a leading experimental poet and influential critic. He also pursued a great interest in early music, especially that of the troubadours, which led him to try his hand at composing. With the assistance of George Antheil, he composed the opera Le Testament, after poems by François Villon (1923; Paris, June 19, 1926); it was followed by a second opera, Calvaccmti (1932), and a third, left unfinished, based on the poetry of Catullus. In 1924 he settled in Rapallo. Although married to Dorothy Shakespear, daughter of one of Yeats’s friends, he became intimate with the American violinist Olga Rudge; Rudge bore him a daughter in 1925 and his wife bore him a son in 1926. Through the influence of Rudge, his interest in music continued, and he became a fervent champion of Vivaldi; he also worked as a music reviewer and ran a concert series with Rudge, Inverno Musicale. A growing interest in economic history and an inordinate admiration for the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini led Pound down the road of political obscurantism. During World War II, he made many broadcasts over Rome Radio on topics ranging from literature to politics. His condemnation of Jewish banking circles in America and the American effort to defeat Fascism led to his arrest by the Allies after the collapse of Il Duce’s regime. In 1945 he was sent to a prison camp in Pisa. In 1946 he was sent to the U.S. to stand trial for treason, but was declared insane and confined to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. Finally, in 1958, he was released and allowed to return to Italy, where he died. Among his WRITINGS on music is Antheil and the Treatise on Harmony (1924). He also composed several works for solo violin for Rudge, including Fiddle Music (1924) and Al poco giorno (Berkeley, March 23, 1983); he also arranged Gaucelm Faidit’s Plainte pour la mort du roi Richart Coeur de Lion. The uncatalogued collection of Pound’s musical MSS at Yale Univ. includes various musical experiments, including rhythmic and melodic realizations of his poem Sestina: Altaforte. Among the composers who have set his poems to music are Copland, Luytens, and Berio.

Bibliography

S. Adams, E. P. and Music (diss., Univ. of Toronto, 1974); R. Schafer, ed., E. P. and Music (N.Y., 1977; a complete collection of his WRITINGS on music).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire