Maxine Handy

Burning in Blueness The Dark-Light of a Countertenor Maxine Handy

Burning in Blueness is a haunting memoir of the world's foremost countertenor James Bowman. The author lyrically portrays and interprets her affinity with the great man and his music. The text is in three parts covering a total of three decades, to include James' work with David Munrow, Britten and Pears, and as the voice of Robert King's five-year Purcell series. The account is not chronological, but traces the creative contact between the author's literary interests and James Bowman's musical genius. The book makes a valuable contribution to musical history, as the famous and intensely private countertenor himself, has always resisted the suggestion of a conventional biography. Burning in Blueness is part of James' legacy as he approaches his 70th birthday in 2011.