Richard Kenneth Marlow (26 July 1939 – 16 June 2013) was an English choral conductor and organist.

Early life

Born in

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, London, Sutton, south-west of Croydon, north of Reigate, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Dow ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, Richard Marlow attended St Olave's and St Saviour's Grammar School in Southwark and was head chorister at Southwark Cathedral. He attained his FRCO at the age of 17 years and was an Organ Scholar and later Research Fellow of

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Selwyn (bishop of Lichfield), Georg ...

. Marlow studied with

Thurston Dart Robert Thurston Dart (3 September 1921 – 6 March 1971) was an English musicologist, conductor and keyboard player. Along with Nigel Fortune, Oliver Neighbour and Stanley Sadie, he was one of Britain's leading musicologists of the post-World W ...

, writing a doctoral dissertation on the 17th-century virginalist,

Giles Farnaby Giles Farnaby (c. 1563 – November 1640) was an English composer and virginalist whose music spans the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque period. Life Giles Farnaby was born about 1563, perhaps in Truro, Cornwall or near London. ...

Career

Marlow then taught at

Southampton University The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities in the United K ...

, and later returned to Cambridge in 1968, succeeding

Raymond Leppard Raymond John Leppard (11 August 1927 – 22 October 2019) was a British-American conductor, harpsichordist, composer and editor. In the 1960s, he played a prime role in the rebirth of interest in Baroque music; in particular, he was one of the ...

as Fellow and Director of Music at Trinity and taking up a lectureship in the University Music Faculty. The following year Richard Marlow founded the Cambridge University Chamber Choir, which won critical acclaim worldwide for its enterprising and stylish performances. He disbanded this group in 1989 to devote more time to the recently formed (1982) mixed choir of Trinity College, whose many broadcasts, recordings and foreign tours have established its reputation internationally. One of his former proteges is comedian and presenter

Alexander Armstrong Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter, singer and farmer. He is the host of the BBC One game show ''Pointless'', and is a weekday morning-show presenter on C ...

, who was a

choral scholar {{Short description, Student who receives a scholarship for singing in a choir A choral scholar is a student at either a university or a private school who receives a scholarship in exchange for singing in the school or university's choir. This is ...

from 1989 to 1992. In addition to his choral work and his teaching, Richard Marlow was active as an editor and contributed articles and reviews to various scholarly journals and books, including The New Grove Dictionary of Music and the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

. He also conducted, lectured and gave

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

and

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

recitals in many European countries as well as in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Taiwan and the US. As organ soloist and choir director, he recorded frequently, most recently

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

Organ Concerto An organ concerto is a type of classical music composition in which a pipe organ soloist is accompanied by an orchestra, although some works exist with the name "concerto" which are for organ alone. The orchestral form first evolved in the 18th ...

No. 14 with the

Academy of Ancient Music The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is a British period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after an 18th-century organisation of the same name (originally the A ...

. Marlow retired from his post as director of music at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, in September 2006 and was succeeded in the post by

Stephen Layton Stephen David Layton (born 23 December 1966) is an English conductor. He was raised in Derby, where his father was a church organist. He was a chorister at Winchester Cathedral, and subsequently won scholarships to Eton College and then King's ...

. However, he remained a fellow of the college until his death on 16 June 2013.

References

External links

* English conductors (music) English male conductors (music) English classical organists Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge 1939 births 2013 deaths Deaths from lymphoma in the United Kingdom English male classical organists {{organist-stub