Christopher Hugh Dearnley (11 February 1930 – 15 December 2000) was an English cathedral organist, who served in

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...

and

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

Background

Christopher Hugh Dearnley was born on 11 February 1930 in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

. He was educated at

Cranleigh School Cranleigh School is a Private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. History It was opened on 29 September 1865 as a boys' school 'to provide a sound and plain education, on the principle ...

. He was organ scholar at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

, from 1948 to 1952. From 1954 to 1968 he was engaged at

, as assistant organist and (in 1957) organist. He also was conductor of the Salisbury Medical and Orchestral Societies, and was joint conductor of the annual

Southern Cathedrals Festival The Southern Cathedrals Festival is a five-day music festival held in rotation among the English cathedrals of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury, in the penultimate week of July. The festival was restored in 1960 after initial attempts to crea ...

(a collaboration between the Salisbury, Chichester, and Winchester cathedrals). Whilst organist at St Paul's he would greatly amuse the choristers by turning up for choir practice in his plus fours which he would also wear whilst cycling around the City of London early in the mornings doing a (presumably one of his children's) paper round. In 1963 he headed the faculty for the Wa-Li-Ro Choir School in Put-in-Bay, Ohio, along with

Leo Sowerby Leo Salkeld Sowerby (1 May 1895 – 7 July 1968) was an American composer and church musician. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1946 and was often called the “Dean of American church music” in the early to mid-20th century. His many s ...

and Paul Beymer. On his retirement from St Paul's Cathedral, he was appointed LVO in the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours list. Dearnley was also president of the

Incorporated Association of Organists An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...

(IAO), 1968–1971, and chairman of the

Friends of Cathedral Music The Cathedral Music Trust, formerly the Friends of Cathedral Music (FCM), is a charity which seeks to maintain and expand the work of choral foundations of cathedrals, collegiate churches, chapels, and other appropriate places of worship in the Uni ...

, 1971–1989. The Archbishop of Canterbury awarded him a Lambeth doctorate of music in 1987 and he was made a fellow of the Royal School of Church Music in 1995.”Obituaries: Dr Christopher Dearnley”, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 8 Jan 2001, p 15. Dearnley and his wife, Bridget, migrated to Australia in 1990. Both committed nudists, their first stop in Australia was a nudist camp near Wadong, Victoria. While in Australia, Dearnley undertook locums as director of music at

Christ Church St Laurence Christ Church St Laurence is an Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican church (building), church located at 814 George Street, Sydney, George Street, near Central railway station, Sydney, Central railway station and Haymarket, in City of Sydney, ...

(1990),

St David's Cathedral, Hobart The Cathedral Church of St David is the Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican cathedral Church (building), church located in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. The cathedral is the mother-church for the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania, Diocese of Tasman ...

(1991),

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

at the University of Melbourne (1992–1993),

St George's Cathedral, Perth St George's Cathedral is the principal Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican church in the city of Perth, Western Australia, and the cathedra, mother-church of the Anglican Diocese of Perth. It is located on St Georges Terrace, Perth, St Georg ...

(1993–1994),

St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney St Andrew's Cathedral (also known as St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral) is a cathedral church (building), church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney ...

(1995), and

Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle The Cathedral Church of Christ the King, also called Christ Church Cathedral, is an Anglican cathedral in Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales. It is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle (Australia), Diocese ...

(1996–1997). He also became patron of the

Organ Historical Trust of Australia The Organ Historical Trust of Australia (OHTA) is a national organisation which works towards: * the protection, conservation and restoration of pipe organs in Australia, * the preservation of records pertaining to their history, the promotion ...

in 1991. He also wrote and edited several studies and histories of English church music, including ''Treasury of English church music, Volume 3 (1650–1760)'' (1965). He was one of the editors of

The New English Hymnal ''The New English Hymnal'' is a hymn book and liturgical source aimed towards the Church of England. First published in 1986, it is a successor to, and published in the same style as, the 1906 ''English Hymnal''. It is published today by SCM C ...

. He died in Australia on 15 December 2000.

Career

Assistant organist of: *

1954 – 1957 Organist of: *

1957 – 1968 *

1968 – 1990

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dearnley, Christopher 1930 births 2000 deaths English classical organists English cathedral organists Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford People educated at Cranleigh School 20th-century English classical musicians 20th-century English organists 20th-century English male musicians English emigrants to Australia English male classical organists