Simon John Preston (4 August 1938 – 13 May 2022) was an English organist, conductor and composer who was admired as one of the most important English church musicians of his generation.
23 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.Westminster Abbey, "Abbey mourns former Organist and Master of the Choristers"
16 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.

Family and education

Preston was born in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, Dorset, to John Preston, an architectural draughtsman, and Doreen Lane,Barry Millington, "Simon Preston obituary", ''The Guardian''
7 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022. and was introduced to music at an early age. His uncle played the organ at the church that his family attended, and he was inspired to take up the instrument at the age of 5 after hearing a recording of George Thalben-Ball. He attended Canford School in

Wimborne Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Pool ...

, Dorset and was a

chorister A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, where he sang as a treble. He approached the college's music director, Boris Ord, for

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 ...

lessons but was referred to Hugh McLean. He later studied under Caleb Henry Trevor 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 ...

before returning to King's College as organ scholar under

David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambridg ...

. He first came to attention when he accompanied the college choir at the service of Nine Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve in 1958. In 2012 he married Elizabeth Hays.

Career and legacy

Preston was sub-organist of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

from 1962 to 1967 and, after a brief period covering for Peter Hurford at

St Albans Cathedral St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban, also known as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Normans, Norman times. It ceased to be an abb ...

in 1968, became organist of

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, in 1970, where he also lectured. In 1981 he returned to Westminster Abbey, serving as Organist and Master of the Choristers until 1987. During that time he was responsible for the music at the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986. Preston left Westminster Abbey in 1987 to pursue a career as an international concert organist. He was artistic director of the Calgary International Organ Festival from 1990 to 2002, patron of the

University of Buckingham The University of Buckingham (UB) is a non-profit private university#United Kingdom, private university in Buckingham, England, and the oldest of the country's six private universities. It was founded as the University College at Buckingham (U ...

, chair of the Herbert Howells Society and vice-president of both the Organ Club and the Organists’ Benevolent League. He also served as a member of the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

music panel and the music committee of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

.Kenneth Shenton, "Obituary: Simon Preston", ''Church Times''
27 May 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022. Admired as "one of the most important English church musicians of his generation", he died on 13 May 2022 at the age of 83.

Compositions and recordings

From the 1960s onwards, Preston composed a number of works for the organ, the best-known of which is probably his ''Alleluyas'', written in 1965 in the style of

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

. Recordings of his organ works originally made in the 1960s on the

Argo In Greek mythology, the ''Argo'' ( ; ) was the ship of Jason and the Argonauts. The ship was built with divine aid, and some ancient sources describe her as the first ship to sail the seas. The ''Argo'' carried the Argonauts on their quest fo ...

label were re-issued by Eloquence in November 2017. In 1965, for the Edington Music Festival, he commissioned a setting of verses 73–104 of

Psalm 119 Psalm 119 is the 119th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English of the King James Version: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord". The Book of Psalms is in the third section of the Hebrew Bible, the ...

, and in 1966 he composed a set of five

anthems An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...

. The following year he wrote a

Missa Brevis ; plural: Missae breves) usually refers to a mass (music), Mass composition that is short because part of the text of the Mass ordinary that is usually set to music in a full Mass (liturgy), Mass is left out, or because its execution time is rel ...

(short mass service) for the Edington Music Festival, and in 1968 he wrote a

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 a

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 ...

for the same festival. Preston made over 100 recordings, beginning in the early 1960s. His recordings include the complete organ works of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

and the Organ Symphony (''Symphony No. 3'') by

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

, with

James Levine James Lawrence Levine ( ; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March ...

conducting the

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

, both for

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

. He recorded

George Frideric 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 ...

's complete organ concertos twice: with

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

conducting the Bath Festival Orchestra and later on period instruments with Trevor Pinnock directing The English Concert. In 2010, he played the organ for the recording of

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

's ''Te Deum'', Op. 22, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by

Susanna Mälkki Susanna Ulla Marjukka Mälkki (born 13 March 1969) is a Finnish conductor and cellist. Early life and education Mälkki was born on 13 March 1969 in Helsinki. She began to learn the violin, piano, and cello in her youth, eventually focusing ...

(CD BBC Music Magazine 2010). He contributed music to the 1975 film '' Rollerball'' and the 1984 film '' Amadeus''. He also played the

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 ...

, particularly in the early stages of his career, including on a recording of the '' Concert champêtre'' by

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

Awards

Preston was made an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and was promoted to a Commander (CBE) in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

References

External links

Obituary, The Guardian

1 May 1990 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, Simon 1938 births 2022 deaths English classical organists English cathedral organists 20th-century English organists 21st-century English organists British harpsichordists English choral conductors English male conductors (music) 20th-century English conductors (music) 21st-century English conductors (music) English performers of early music Composers for pipe organ 20th-century English classical composers English male classical composers 20th-century English male musicians 21st-century English male musicians Choristers of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey People educated at Canford School Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford Alumni of King's College, Cambridge People associated with Westminster Abbey Musicians from Bournemouth Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English male classical organists Burials at Westminster Abbey