Page 17 - Church Music Quarterly September 2018

RSCM
NEWS
A NEW DIRECTOR
We are delighted that Hugh Morris started as RSCM Director on 1 August. Hugh writes:
‘I should like to thank most warmly
all those people from whom I have had messages of welcome. It has been lovely to get a sense of joining such a large and active family. There are lots of exciting times ahead, and I look forward to sharing that journey with you as we all work to make the RSCM the best it can be.’
RSCM COLLES LIBRARY BEQUESTS
Over the last two years the RSCM has been grateful to receive a large number of items through bequests and donations. Although too numerous to list, four deserve special mention. The family of the late Glyn Davies, organist of Bakewell parish church, gifted a large and eclectic collection of organ music which has filled many gaps and which also provided pristine copies to replace old and tattered copies already in the library. The family of the late Peter Isherwood of Coventry,
a former organ scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge, also gifted a substantial amount of choral and organ music. From the estate of the late Michael Grange of Cheltenham, who some years back donated some 1,200 LP records, we have now received a large number of CD recordings. More recently we acquired the music and books of the late Gordon Appleton FRSCM. Made Gordon many visits to the USA and South Africa, and with a career of teaching and conducting in Jamaica and Australia, his estate contains much music composed in those countries as well as a vast collection of English choral and organ music. To all donors we express our most sincere thanks – our library has no budget and for over half a century we have relied
on the generosity of benefactors.
As a result of these recent donations, we have a large surplus of duplicate material: choir music (single copies, not sets) and organ music (much of it out of print). Unfortunately we cannot supply a list of these, but if CMQ readers have searched in vain for copies of hard-to- find music then email John Henderson at library@rscm.com.
The online library catalogue is now out of date, but we hope to rectify this in the autumn, adding another 5,000 items. John Henderson
SIR WILLIAM HENRY HARRIS:
A NEW PUBLICATION
The first biography of ‘DocH’, as he was known to his choristers, has recently been published by the RSCM. Written
by RSCM librarians John Henderson
and Trevor Jarvis, it follows their three earlier books about Sir Sydney Nicholson and the history of the RSCM. Although the name of William Harris (1883–1973) will be familiar to many as a composer of church music, less is generally known about his life prior to his moving to Windsor in 1933, where for no less than 28 years he presided over the music in
St George’s Chapel. During this time he was intimately involved in a considerable number of high-profile occasions, especially Order of the Garter ceremonies, two coronation services and a number of state funerals. While not setting out to be an academic treatise
on a significant church composer, the authors have taken the opportunity in the first part of the book to examine the career of an essentially humble man who spent his life wholly in the service of the church, leaving a lasting legacy of inspired and well-crafted music. The second part of the book is a catalogue resource, with musical examples,
of Harris’s music including many unpublished works. Harris never
Sir William Henry Harris
A new biography
ventured into avant-garde musical styles; it is hoped that this resource
will tempt conservative-minded church musicians into exploring some of the composer’s less well-known pieces, a large number of which are suitable for parish choir use. Sir William Henry Harris is available now through RSCM Music Direct priced £27, order number 9780854022793.
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RSCM NEWS 17