Page 38 - Church Music Quarterly June 2018

churchandusehisgitso musictotheglory o God.TherearemanypeopleacrosstheUK, in acttheworld,whothroughattending events,courses,orthroughpersonalcontact have been inspired to continue sharing their gi ts o music because o an encounter
with Gordon. Ihadthepleasureandprivilegeo
working with him in many ways over the last20years.ThroughhisworkleadingRSCM events, as a sta member on young people’s courses, as a singer in Northern Cathedral Singers/Cathedral Courses, an RSCM Area secretary and later Regional Music Adviser and as a riend.
Gordonensuredsupport orthelocal RSCM committees and motivated them to putoneventsthatwouldsupportavarietyo local musical needs, and was always willing to direct these events and provide creative resources orthem.Hetailoredeventsto theneedso thecommunity/contexthe
was working in – supporting and enabling churcheswith ewmusicalresourcestohave a go. His work with young people over many decadeshasbeenlegendary.Theyoung singersalwayscameback romcoursesled byGordonandhisteaminspiredand ullo energy and with a thirst or including pieces theyhadlearntoverthose ewdaysintheir own choir repertoire. The cathedral courses he led (and on occasion broadcast) were always working to the highest standards.
As a riend and colleague, he was extremely supportive. He was generous with his time andalwayswillingtobearoundi you needed him whether by phone, email or in person. The co ee was always on i he knew I was passing through Ripon. It was a privilege to know Gordon, to work with him and to counthimamongour riends.Hewillbe sorely missed by all. May he rest in peace
and rise in glory.
ANTHONY (TONY) COOK
AnthonyCookwasbornin1929inStAnne’s, Bristol. In 1939 he moved to High Wycombe and began singing in the choir o All Saints, wherehesang orover40years.The choirmaster at All Saints at that time was HubertCrookwho,unbeknowntoTony,was workingcloselywithSirSydneyNicholson. Under Hubert Crook’s guidance Tony was soon attending courses, starting with St Michael’sTenbyin1943runbySirSydney himsel . He began attending summer schools in 1945, and between 1959 and 1970 attended ten at Addington Palace.
AppointedasRSCMArchdeaconrySecretary or Bucks in 1964, Tony used the extensive
knowledge he gained rom summer schools together with his administrative acumen to build a local committee structure that by 1971 was noted by Gerald Knight as being ‘amodeltoallothers’.Hesooninstituted
apersonalmembers’newsletterandlater persuadedAddingtonPalacetosupplytheir educationalandsalesmaterialtoenable anArchdeaconry‘shop’tobetakento training events around Bucks, thereby making RSCM products and resources more available.
Hisskillinarrangingchoral estivalsin such places as St Albans Abbey, St Margaret, WestminsterandnotablyStGeorge’sChapel Windsor, led to his helping update the RSCM’s ‘Notes or Stewards’, and to him and his stewarding team assisting with a number o major RSCM estivals in the Royal Albert Hall.
Asameanso developingyoungchoristers across the Ox ord Diocese (over and above
the RSCM’s existing award scheme) Tony alsoinitiatedtheBishop’sAwardscheme or junior and senior choristers, a scheme that continues today. Tony’s vision and tireless work or RSCM was recognized by an Honorary Li e Membership o RSCM in
1969. Tony died in January 2018 aged 88.
THE RIGHT REVD JOHN BICKERSTETH
Aswasnotedbriefyinthepreviousedition o CMQ,BishopJohnBickersteth,Chairman o RSCMCouncil rom1977until1987,
died in January this year. He held o fce concurrently with Director Lionel Dakers, whom he supported through those years
o considerable change. On their joint retirement in 1987, RSCM membership was at its peak and sales o RSCM publications were booming. At 10 years, his tenure as RSCM Chairman was the second longest
in the RSCM’s history. RSCM members
still remember the teas that he and
Mrs Bickersteth hosted in their beauti ul home, the Bishop’s Palace in Wells.
Asaboy,hewaso tentakentothe Chapel Royal on Sundays, and the fne music le t its mark on him. A ter serving
as su ragan Bishop o Warrington, he was enthroned as Bishop o Bath and Wells inJanuary1976.Hisenthronementservice included Palestrina’s Sicut cervus and Vaughan Williams’s Festival Te Deum. His slightly patrician manner notwithstanding, he was a countryman at heart, and became immenselypopularasdiocesanBishop.
DuringhistimeintheDiocese,two RSCM Cathedral courses took place in
Wells Cathedral, each under the direction
o MartinHow.Thesecondo these,in
1982, eaturedtheusualliveChoralEvensong broadcast, which by coincidence took
place on the Queen Mother’s birthday. No mentiono thiswasmadeduringthecourse o the service, at which Bickersteth was
in attendance. This prompted him (as he was by then Clerk o the Closet), as the service concluded, to say, ‘A ter that truly magnifcent service, I eel we must pray
or...’,allo whichwentoutliveonair.
AsClerko theClosethehadalsobeen concernedtoensurethatonlythosechurch choirsthathadanentitlementtowearred cassocksshoulddoso;heenquiredo one course member: ‘And where do you come
rom?’ ‘Well, St George’s Chapel, Windsor actually ...’
Singersoncathedralcoursesat Canterbury regularly took part in the Annual Meno KentandKentishMenMemorial Service in Canterbury Cathedral Memorial Garden. Bishop Bickersteth was also a regular attendee at the same service, refecting his own military service in the Second World War,andthato thememberso his amily who had served as chaplains in World War One, and whose diaries he edited and had published–thusperormingagreat
public service.
MichaelPaintingan DrJohnHen erson
DUDLEY BASTIAN
Dudley Bastian, a ounding member in 1966 o the Organ Society o Western Australia (OSWA) and Chairman o the WA Branch o RSCM rom1974to1983,diedon27February 2018inPerth,Australia.
EducatedatPerthModernSchool,Dudley studied music part time at the University o Western Australia, graduating with a B.Mus. in1967andaDip.Ed.the ollowingyear.He travelled with his new wi e, Beverley, to England in 1968 where he success ully sat the FRCOandwontheJohnBrookPrize orthe highest mark in the Choir Master’s Diploma examination. During this time he made contact with the RSCM at Addington Palace and attended a number o courses there.
It was largely through Dudley’s initiative and energy that OSWA came into being in August 1966 and – always a worker, never a fgurehead – unsurprisingly he was elected the Society’s frst secretary and treasurer. Dudley is particularly honoured in the RSCM Branch orestablishingthejuniorchoristers’ course.Thefrsto thesetookplaceinthe regionalcentreo Northamin1975,andthe 44th will take place in the Swan Valley just northo PerththisJuly.
Dudley was a great encourager and enablero others,andhelpedmanychurch musiciansachievetheGuildo Church Musicians’ Archbishop’s Certifcate in Church Music. For some years, starting in 1991,heleda‘DiscovertheOrgan’dayeach year, bringing together OSWA and RSCM in
ostering and encouraging new organists. Participants – usually pianists with no experienceo theorgan–wouldgatherat
his house and, a ter playing on his house organ, move to other instruments in the area. He gave some o the more promising players a series o lessons without charge, and there are many organists in Perth who started out in this way.
38 CMQ