Daniel Moult (born 1973) is a concert organist, educator and

animateur An animateur is a musical professional whose role is to engage audiences with a new or unfamiliar form of music, "bringing it to life" beyond what might be expected in a traditional performance. The role of animateur developed from the French con ...

, ensemble player and presenter of films about music.

Education

Daniel Moult was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. He attended

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

and St John's College, Oxford, where he was

organ scholar An organ scholar is a young musician employed as a part-time assistant organist at a cathedral, church or institution where regular choral services are held. The idea of an organ scholarship is to provide the holder with playing, directing and adm ...

. While at Oxford he became a Fellow of the

Royal College of Organists The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, with members worldwide. Its role is to promote and advance organ playing and choral music, and it offers music education, training and de ...

winning three of the top prizes, and was jointly awarded the University of Oxford's John Betts Organ Scholarship. He studied as a post-graduate at the

Conservatorium van Amsterdam The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam ...

, where his teacher was Jacques van Oortmerssen.

Career

Daniel Moult is Head of Organ at the

Birmingham Conservatoire The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides professional education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly res ...

, where he leads one of the most vibrant organ departments in the UK, with regular trips to Europe and visits from the best international organists, and new facilities including a purpose built organ studio and £3 million worth of new instruments. He is a trustee of the Royal College of Organists, for which he also examines, and he teaches in London through the RCO Academy. He was organist and assistant director of music at Coventry Cathedral from 1995 to 2002. He has performed concerts throughout the UK, as well as in Europe, Australia and Asia, and has been a soloist with orchestras such as Kammerorchester Basel, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Capella Cracoviensis and the English String Orchestra. He works frequently as an accompanist for choirs such as the choir of St Peter's Church, Eaton Square. In 2010 he toured Switzerland and France with the Kammerorchester Basel as the soloist in Handel's F Major Organ Concerto, Opus 4, and he recorded the B-flat Major Organ Concerto, Opus 4, with the London Early Opera Orchestra for the CD "Handel at Vauxhall", released on Signum Classics. He has been artist in residence at Sydney Grammar School and performs in Australia most years. Past positions include teaching at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

Junior Department. He has published several editions, including the Easy Bach Album and Easy Handel Album with Bärenreiter and the Complete Church Organist, volumes 1 and 2, with RSCM Publications. His articles on performance practice and performance-related topics have appeared in various music journals.

Broadcast and film work

Daniel Moult has performed for many broadcasts on BBC Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4 and BBC Television, including numerous broadcasts of '' Songs of Praise'' and ''Choral Evensong''. Daniel Moult co-wrote and presented the documentary ''

The Elusive English Organ Daniel Moult (born 1973) is a concert organist, educator and animateur, ensemble player and presenter of films about music. Education Daniel Moult was born in Manchester. He attended Manchester Grammar School and St John's College, Oxford, wher ...

'', a film that traced the development of the English organ from 1550 to 1830, discovering why so few pre-1830 English organs survive and to what extent it is possible to perform repertoire written during this period on instruments from the composers’ times. Locations included

Lanvellec Lanvellec (; br, Lanvaeleg) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in north-western France. Culture The commune has a rich architectural and cultural heritage. The parish church of Saint-Brandan was rebuilt between 1852 and 1 ...

Ploujean Ploujean is a former commune of Finistère which is part of Morlaix since February 22, 1959. The church was built in the 15th century. It has been listed as a '' Monument historique'' since 1914 by the French Ministry of Culture, and its organ, bui ...

, Adlington Hall,

St Botolph's Aldgate St Botolph's Aldgate is a Church of England parish church in the City of London and also, as it lies outside the line of the city's former eastern walls, a part of the East End of London. The full name of the church is St Botolph without Aldga ...

and St James, Bermondsey. This film was produced by Fugue State Films and released in 2010 on DVD with an accompanying CD with recordings by Daniel Moult of music by

William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English composer of late Renaissance music. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native England and those on the continent. He ...

Thomas Tomkins Thomas Tomkins (1572 – 9 June 1656) was a Welsh-born composer of the late Tudor and early Stuart period. In addition to being one of the prominent members of the English Madrigal School, he was a skilled composer of keyboard and consort mus ...

John Blow John Blow (baptised 23 February 1649 – 1 October 1708) was an English composer and organist of the Baroque period. Appointed organist of Westminster Abbey in late 1668,Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel, John Stanley and

Samuel Wesley Samuel Wesley (24 February 1766 – 11 October 1837) was an English organist and composer in the late Georgian period. Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart (1756–1791) and was called by some "the English Mozart".Kassler, Michael & Olleson, Ph ...

. At the time of its release it was reviewed in The Organists' Review as follows: “This is eloquently articulated, well-paced playing, which reaches far. Moult’s performance of Purcell’s Double Organ Voluntary in D minor is lovely in its maturity and flexibility.” His second film was ''Virtuoso! Music for Organ''. He performed a programme of virtuosic works by Marcel Dupre, Franz Schmidt,

Jehan Alain Jehan-Aristide Paul Alain (; 3 February 1911 – 20 June 1940) was a French organist, composer, and soldier. Born into a family of musicians, he learned the organ from his father and a host of other teachers, becoming a composer at 18, and compo ...

, Jean Langlais, Maurice Durufle as well as works by contemporary composers Ad Wammes,

Graeme Koehne Graeme John Koehne (born 3 August 1956), is an Australian composer and music educator. He is best known for his orchestral and ballet scores, which are characterised by direct communicative style and embrace of tertian harmony. His orchestral t ...

and Andries van Rossem. This was recorded on the organ of Bridlington Priory and released in 2010. Choir and Organ Magazine reviewed it, writing: “To the lay observer, he risks making it all look deceptively easy; but this is a DVD that serious students of the organ will want to revisit for an object lesson in the unfussy performance of some fiendishly difficult repertoire.” '' Gramophone'' magazine reviewed it as "a thrilling production...allowing one to marvel even more at Moult's exhilarating musicianship". He is currently developing "The Imperial English Organ", a follow-up to ''

'', which follows the story of the English organ and its repertoire from Handel to the present day, and tells the history of England from the point of view of the pipe organ from the Eighteenth to Twenty-First centuries.

Discography

Partial discography: *

(Fugue State Films) * Virtuoso! Music for Organ (Fugue State Films) * Handel: Athalia (Sony BMG) organ concerto soloist with Basel Kammer Orchester and Paul Goodwin. *Out of the Stillness (RSCM) Millennium Youth Choir conducted by David Ogden with Daniel Moult, organ. *Arundel Restored (Regent) Daniel Moult, organ, plays the newly restored Hill organ of Arundel Cathedral. *Handel at Vauxhall (Signum) organ concerto soloist with London Early Opera Orchestra and Bridget Cunningham.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moult, Daniel 1973 births Living people Musicians from Manchester English classical organists British male organists People educated at Manchester Grammar School Alumni of St John's College, Oxford 21st-century organists 21st-century British male musicians Male classical organists