Editing Gerald Moore (section)

===Peak years===
By the end of the 1930s Moore was so well known as an accompanist that [[Myra Hess]] invited him to give a talk about his profession at one of her of lunchtime concerts at the [[National Gallery]]. The pianist [[Joseph Cooper (broadcaster)|Joseph Cooper]] wrote of this, and later similar talks, "He revealed a sense of verbal timing of which any professional comic would be proud. His unique blend of wit and wisdom not only pleased the cognoscenti but also won over ordinary people who had no idea that classical music could be fun."<ref name=dnb/> Moore's first book, ''The Unashamed Accompanist'' (1943), had its origins in these talks.<ref name=dnb/>

Moore is credited with doing much to raise the status of accompanist from a subservient role to that of an equal artistic partner. [[Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau]] wrote in his introduction to the German edition of ''The Unashamed Accompanist'', "There is no more of that pale shadow at the keyboard; he is always an equal with his partner".<ref>"die so schattenhafte Rolle des Klavierbe gleiters zum Range eines geichwertigen Partners erhoben", Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich (1961). Introduction, in Gerald Moore, ''Freimütige Bekenntnisse eines Begleiter'', tr. Else and Walter Winter, Munich: Heim ran, OCLC 164765513</ref> Moore valiantly protected this status of his art, complaining when accompanists he admired were not given billing in concert. He quoted with disapproval the remark made by a singer to [[Coenraad V. Bos|Coenraad V Bos]], an accompanist of an earlier generation, "You must have played well today, for I did not notice you."<ref>Moore, p. 46</ref>{{refn|Bos was not as self-effacing as the comment might suggest. Despite a modest demeanour, it was he rather than the soloist who tended to be in control in performance: "The expert accompanist must have a knowledge of the whole similar to that which is possessed by a conductor, with these two essential differences: he must direct, without seeming to direct, and, in addition, he must play a dual role, one of pianism, and the equally important one of self-effacement."<ref>Bos, p. 21</ref> Moore called him "the doyen of accompanists".<ref>Moore, p. 188</ref>|group= n}}

It is debatable, however, whether he succeeded in convincing the British Establishment of his time, of the uplifted status of his art. Whereas prominent conductors and singers, for example, in the British musical theatre tended to be awarded knighthoods, in 1954 Moore was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE), a lower ranked award.