Michael Stockwin Howard (14 September 1922 – 4 January 2002) was an English choral conductor, organist and composer. He was an important part of the Early Music movement in the middle of the last century, in particular as a celebrated interpreter of 16th century polyphony In his later years he made notable recordings of the late French Romantic school of organ composers, particularly

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

, on the Cavaillé Coll organ at St. Michael's Abbey in Farnborough. The National Pipe Organ Register now claims that the organ appears in a list of organs by Mutin (originally attributed to Aristide Cavaille-Coll). Educated at

Ellesmere College Ellesmere College is a co-educational boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located in Shropshire, near the market town of Ellesmere. Belonging to the Woodard Corporation, it was founded in 1884 by Canon Nathaniel ...

, Shropshire, Michael went on to study Organ (with G.D. Cunningham) and Composition (with

William Alwyn William Alwyn (born William Alwyn Smith; 7 November 1905 – 11 September 1985), was a prolific English composer, Conducting, conductor, and music teacher who composed over 200 cinematic scores, of which some 70 were for full-length features, ...

) at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. His organ studies continued with

Ralph Downes Ralph William Downes CBE KSG (16 August 1904 – 24 December 1993) was an English organist, organ designer, teacher and music director and was Professor of Organ in the Royal College of Music. Biography Downes was born in Derby and studied a ...

at the Brompton Oratory, London, and

Marcel Dupré Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré (; 3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue. Early life and education Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré ...

at St Sulpice in Paris. In 1944 he founded The Renaissance Singers with whom he gave numerous concerts and made many recordings and broadcasts for the next twenty years. He was organist of

Tewkesbury Abbey The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury, commonly known as Tewkesbury Abbey, is located in the town of Tewkesbury in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. A former Benedictine monastery, it is now a parish church. Conside ...

(1943–1944), Christ Church,

Woburn Square Woburn Square is the smallest of the Bloomsbury squares and owned by the University of London. Designed by Thomas Cubitt and built between 1829 and 1847, it is named after Woburn Abbey, the main country seat of the Dukes of Bedford, who develop ...

in London (1945–1950),

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral can trace its origin to the abbey founded in Ely in 67 ...

(1953–1958), St. Marylebone Parish Church in London (1971–1979) and at St. Michael's Abbey in Farnborough (1984–1986). In the 1960s he formed and conducted the sixteen-voice group Cantores in Ecclesia.

References

External links

Information about the premiere recordings of Michael Howard's Seven Songs for Countertenor
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110723090751/http://www.heraldav.co.uk/catalogue?diskNum=154 Link to a recording made at Farnborough Abbey by Michael Howardbr>Link to a recording made at Farnborough Abbey by Michael HowardLink to a recording made at Farnborough Abbey by Michael HowardLink to a BBC Classics reissue of Music for Westminster Abbey (Purcell) by Michael Howard and Cantores in EcclesiaLink to reissues by L'Oiseau Lyre of recordings of Byrd made by Michael Howard and Cantores in Ecclesia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Michael Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music 20th-century British classical composers Composers for pipe organ English classical composers English classical organists British male organists Organ improvisers Cathedral organists People from Groombridge 1922 births 2002 deaths Musicians from London English male classical composers 20th-century English composers Organists of Ely Cathedral 20th-century English organists 20th-century British male musicians British male classical organists