Preface
I was introduced to IMS Prussia Cove by my future wife in April 1981. She had been coming to the Easter courses from their first year, 1972. The place – its location on the sea, the music, the artistic values, the great house in which everyone gathered – made an immediate and profound impression on me, as they have done on countless visitors. I have made the pilgrimage at least once almost every year since then, and as a director since the early 1990s have given it whatever support I can. My wife was its chairman for more than 25 years. IMS Prussia Cove is a unique and inspiring institution, a by-word among musicians for integrity, excellence and enchantment. This essay is an attempt to put that magic into words.