Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Cecil Sharp earns my deep respect for sheer devotion. Born in Camberwell in 1859 and educated at Clare College, Cambridge, he could have settled into comfortable academic life, but instead he walked the countryside writing down songs ordinary people were quietly forgetting. Calling him the central figure of the Edwardian folk revival undersells it; this was preservation driven by love as much as scholarship. Without his fieldwork, countless English melodies and dances would simply have vanished. He died in 1924, yet the music he rescued still breathes today. To me, leaving the world with songs that outlive you is about as meaningful as a life's work gets.
Overview
Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was a key figure in the folk-song revival in England during the Edwardian period. According to Roud's Folk Song in England, Sharp was the country's "single most important figure in the study of folk song and music".
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Cecil Sharp
- Name (Japanese)
- セシル・シャープ
- Reading
- せしる・しゃーぷ
- Born
- November 22, 1859 – June 23, 1924
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Goat
- Origin
- Camberwell, United Kingdom
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- musician / teacher / musicologist / folk song collector / lyricist
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Clare College
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Musician — see all → · Teacher — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.