Peter Aston (5 October 1938 – 13 September 2013) was an English composer, academic and conductor best known for his choral works.Profile
University of East Anglia Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, he studied at

Birmingham School of Music Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly research and doc ...

and the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

. In 1964, he became a lecturer in music in the University of York and in 1974 he was appointed professor of music in the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

, where he subsequently became emeritus professor of composition. Although best known for his liturgical choral works, his output included chamber works for voices and instruments, choral and orchestral works and an opera for children.Chester Novello profile
/ref> He is probably best known for his Communion and

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...

and

Nunc Dimittis The Nunc dimittis (), also known as the Song of Simeon or the Canticle of Simeon, is a canticle taken from the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 29 to 32. Its Latin name comes from its incipit, the opening words, of the Vulgate transl ...

settings in F. He founded the Norwich Festival of Contemporary Church Music and he was a Lay Canon of

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Norwich and the mother church of the dioc ...

. For fourteen years he was the conductor of the

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...

Singers. He was also involved with the

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra. He was an editor of Baroque music and founded the Tudor Consort and the English Baroque Ensembles. Aston and John Paynter co-authored the book ''Sound and Silence'', published in 1970.

References

1938 births 2013 deaths English composers Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Academics of the University of East Anglia Academics of the University of York Alumni of the University of York Alumni of the Birmingham School of Music {{UK-composer-stub