Monday, 21 September 2015

Brian Sewell - RIP

Brian Sewell, art critic, columnist and writer, died in his London home on the 19th of September, 2015. He was not only renowned for his pungent, waspish, rapier-sharp remarks, but also for his 'privileged', genteel pronunciation, whch made quite a few people become prickly. In his words, he had the voice of an "Edwardian lesbian". Well, form your own judgment; there are lots of sound samples on the internet.

Here's a short extract from an interview which must have taken place in or shortly after 1979:

 
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6 comments:

  1. JWL27 September 2015 at 12:36

    There are ten or more videos of Sewell free on Youtube

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  2. JWL28 September 2015 at 17:38

    It might be added that he was one of the best known examples of a speaker with a Conspicuous General British accent.

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  3. Kraut3 October 2015 at 10:06

    Another CGB speaker is Jacob William Rees-Mogg

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  4. Richard T Cauldwell14 October 2015 at 17:57

    Wikipedia reports (gloriously) that Jacob (when campaigning for a Parliamentary seat) said "I gradually realised that whatever I happened to be speaking about, the number of voters in my favour dropped as soon as I opened my mouth."

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  5. Richard T Cauldwell14 October 2015 at 18:05

    Nice example of Brian Sewell's voice! Presumably he is talking about his teacher, the spy Anthony Blunt.

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  6. Kraut15 October 2015 at 15:22

    He is indeed, Richard. It took me quite some time to understand the 8 or so words before he mentions Anthony's name. Very thick jungle!

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