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AROUND THE QUADS

In Memoriam

Denis W. Stevens, an acclaimed musicologist and a music professor at Columbia from 1964–76, died on April 1, 2004, at 82.

Stevens was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England on March 2, 1922. He was brought up next door to violinmaker Clifford Hoing, who, together with Stevens’ father, encouraged his violin-playing. This helped him to win a scholarship from the town’s Royal grammar school to study languages at Jesus College, Oxford, in 1940, and was to contribute significantly to his enduring friendship with famed violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Stevens studied languages before completing his degree in music.

Stevens’ war service, from 1942–46, was spent decoding Japanese messages in India and Burma. He played in the Calcutta Symphony Orchestra, and it was here that he met many of his future colleagues and friends. From 1949–54, Stevens was a producer at the BBC Third Programme, where he arranged some of the first broadcasts of music by Antonio Vivaldi and Claudio Monteverdi. He taught at several U.S. universities from 1955 onward, and in 1961, with Menuhin’s support, formed the Accademia Monteverdiana.

Apart from editions of the composer’s works, Stevens produced a richly annotated translation of Monteverdi’s 127 surviving letters in 1980. Other publications followed, including journal articles on major items of the Old Hall Manuscript, the Worcester Fragments and the Sarum Rite. Notable among his books were Thomas Tomkins (1957) and Tudor Church Music (1966). Stevens was asked to advise on music for the 1968 film The Lion In Winter. The authentically medieval texts and melodies used in John Barry’s score are due to Stevens.

Stevens received the distinguished Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1984. In 1995, after returning to London, he was appointed visiting professor at Goldsmiths College, the institution that now houses his extensive Monteverdi library.

Married and divorced three times, Stevens is survived by his children, Daphne ’75 Barnard, Anthony and Michael, from his first marriage.

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