Hussey was born in
Deolali, India, the son of Colonel Charles Edward Hussey. He was educated at
St Cyprian's School Eastbourne,
The King's School Canterbury and
Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He served in
World War I as a lieutenant in the Thirteenth Battalion of the
Lancashire Fusiliers, and published a book of war poems. Two of his most celebrated war poems are "An Oxford Retrospect" and "Courage". He then spent five years in the finance department at the
Admiralty. After his time as a civil servant Hussey worked at the
National Gallery and began to establish himself as an author and journalist. He was writing art criticism by 1923. However his main interest was music, especially Italian opera. He was music critic for
The Times from 1923 to 1946 and also wrote successively for the
Saturday Review,
Weekend Review, and the
Spectator. During
World War II he again took on an administrative post at the Admiralty. In 1946, he was chosen to deal with music on the
BBC Third Programme and became music critic of
The Listener, remaining until 1960. He wrote several articles for the
Musical Times under the title "The Musician's Gramophone". His Master Musicians series book on Verdi was published in 1940, inspired by the revival of critical interest in the composer that had surfaced largely in Germany during the 1930s. It was for many years considered the standard biography in English and lasted for five editions. But many of Verdi's 26 operas were not yet in currency when it was first written. Subsequently, the book was heavily weighted towards Verdi's later operas from
Aida onwards. Hussey married Irene Duncan in 1926 and had a son and two daughters. She died in 1941 and he subsequently married Dr. Florence Costello. He died at
Cheltenham aged 79. ==Works==