Home > Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music > Pound, Ezra

(Loomis), greatly significant American man of letters and amateur composer; b. Hailey, Idaho, Oct. 30, 1885; d. Venice, Nov. 1, 1972. Pound was educated at Hamilton College (Ph.B., 1905) and the University of Pennsylvania (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 American composer GEORGE ANTHEIL, he composed the opera Le Testament, after poems by François Villon in 1923, which was first performed three years later in Paris. It was followed by a second opera, Calvacanti in 1932, and a third, left unfinished, based on the poetry of Catullus.

In 1924 Pound settled in Rapallo, Italy. 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, Pound's interest in music continued, and he became a fervent champion of ANTONIO VIVALDI. He also worked as a music reviewer and ran a concert series with Rudge.

A growing interest in economic history and an ill-considered admiration for the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini led Pound to promote increasingly controversial ideas. 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 Mussolini'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 in 1972.

Pound was an early champion of Antheil's modern musical experiments, writing a pamphlet in 1924 promoting the American's music. He also composed several works for solo violin for Rudge, including Fiddle Music (1924) and Al poco giorno, which went unpublished until 1983. He also arranged Gaucelm Faidit's Plainte pour la mort du roi Richart Coeur de Lion. Pound's musical manuscripts at Yale University include various musical experiments, such as rhythmic and melodic realizations of his poem Sestina: Altaforte.