Melville Cook

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Gloucester Cathedral in 1920, a city where Melville Cook was born, sang as a chorister and was assistant organist. Gloucester cathedral full.jpg
Gloucester Cathedral in 1920, a city where Melville Cook was born, sang as a chorister and was assistant organist.

Alfred Melville Cook (18 June 1912 – 22 May 1993) was a British organist, conductor, composer and teacher. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Cook was born in Gloucester. He was a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral (1923–1928) and articled pupil there under Herbert Sumsion (1929–1932). He also studied with Herbert Brewer and Edward Bairstow. He held the ARCO (1931) and the FRCO with the Harding Prize (1931). He studied at Durham University, receiving the B.Mus. in 1934 and D.Mus. in 1940. [2]

Career

Cook was assistant organist of Gloucester Cathedral (1932–1937) [3] and was also organist of All Saints' Church, Cheltenham (1935–1937). In 1937 or 1938, aged 25, he was appointed choirmaster and organist at Leeds Parish Church. (See also Choir of Leeds Parish Church). During the war he served with the Royal Artillery in the Orkney Islands, East Africa, India and the Far East, and it was during this period that he met his wife Marion in Scotland.

By 1946 he had returned to Leeds, during which time he performed on national radio both as a solo organist and choirmaster. He worked as director of the Parish Church Choir where he broadened the musical repertoire of Leeds Parish Church, introducing more unaccompanied music. He was also organist at the Leeds Triennial Festivals in the late 1940s and early to mid-1950s. He became conductor of the Halifax Choral Society in 1948, and founded the Leeds Guild of Singers in the same year. In December 1956 he took up the post of Organist and Master of the Choristers at Hereford Cathedral, where he was principal conductor at the Hereford Three Choirs Festival in 1958, 1961 and 1964. [4]

In 1966 he emigrated to Canada to become director of the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir [5] and organist and choirmaster at All Saints' Anglican Church, Winnipeg. [6] He was the organist and choirmaster (1967–1986) at the Metropolitan United Church, Toronto, where he organized organ recitals, chamber concerts, choral performances, and presented a number of oratorios with the Metropolitan Festival Choir and Orchestra. [7] [8] He taught organ (1974–1977) at McMaster University in Hamilton. [9]

Retirement and death

Melville Cook retired to Cheltenham in 1986 and remained there until his death in 1993. A memorial service for Dr Cook was held at Leeds Parish Church in the autumn of 1993. [10]

Compositions

Arrangements

Recordings

Literature

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Sebastian Wesley</span> English organist and composer (1810–1876)

Samuel Sebastian Wesley was an English organist and composer. Wesley married Mary Anne Merewether and had 6 children. He is often referred to as S.S. Wesley to avoid confusion with his father Samuel Wesley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Scott (organist)</span> Musical artist

John Gavin Scott was an English organist and choirmaster who reached the highest levels of his profession on both sides of the Atlantic. He directed the Choir of St Paul's Cathedral in London from 1990 to 2004. He then directed the Choir of Men and Boys of Saint Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in New York City until his death at age 59. Whilst training countless young musicians, he maintained an active career as an international concert performer and recording artist, and was acclaimed as "the premier English organist of his generation".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. Tertius Noble</span> British organist and composer (1867–1953)

Thomas Tertius Noble was an English-born organist and composer, who lived in the United States for the latter part of his career.

David John Briggs is an English organist and composer. He started his career as a cathedral organist as Assistant Organist at Hereford Cathedral before becoming the organist of Truro and Gloucester Cathedrals. Heavily influenced by Jean Langlais and Pierre Cochereau, Briggs is regarded as one of the world's finest improvisors, and now works as a concert organist. He is also a composer of choral and organ music, and has transcribed many orchestral works for solo organ, as well as many of Cochereau's recorded improvisations.

George Guest CBE FRCO was a Welsh organist and choral conductor.

Joan Lippincott is an American concert organist and former head of the organ department at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Brewer</span> English composer and organist (1865-1928)

Sir Alfred Herbert Brewer was an English composer and organist. As organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1896 until his death, he contributed a good deal to the Three Choirs Festival for 30 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Canadian College of Organists</span>

The Royal Canadian College of Organists (RCCO), founded in 1909, is a national association of organists and church musicians in Canada, with 28 centres from Victoria, British Columbia to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The National Office is in Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds Minster</span> Church in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

Leeds Minster, or the Minster and Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds is the minster church of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It stands on the site of the oldest church in the city and is of architectural and liturgical significance. A church is recorded on the site as early as the 7th century, although the present structure is a Gothic Revival one, designed by Robert Dennis Chantrell and completed in 1841. It is dedicated to Saint Peter and was the Parish Church of Leeds before receiving the honorific title of "Minster" in 2012. It has been designated a Grade I listed building by Historic England.

John Derek Sanders OBE, FRCO was an English organist, conductor, choir trainer and composer. He was organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1967 to 1994, and director of the Three Choirs Festival from 1968 to 1994.

The Choir of Leeds Minster is the choir of Leeds Minster, Leeds, England, which became a Minster in September 2012. The choir was founded by vicar, Richard Fawcett probably as early as 1815, and was certainly in existence by 1818. The church's choir - boys and men - was, from its origins, a charge on the church rate; and, in what was then a largely non-conformist town, a none-too-popular one. By the 1830s, the choir's resourcing had been taken over by a list of voluntary subscribers. On arrival as Vicar of Leeds in 1837, Walter Farquhar Hook said he found "the surplices in rags and the books in tatters". Additional to its extensive commitment in the provision of choral services, the choir is known to a wide public through many recitals, recordings and broadcasts and by its regular choir tours - the first tour was held in July 1968 and the 40th anniversary tour, from 22 to 27 July 2008, included singing in Ely Cathedral, King's College, Cambridge, the National Musicians' Church St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in the City of London, All Saints Pastoral Centre London Colney and the Chapel of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

The Southern Cathedrals Festival is a 5-day music festival held on rotation among the cathedrals of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury in England, in the penultimate week of July. The festival was restored in 1960 after initial attempts to create the annual occasion - such efforts led to 28 years without it. The directors of music act as festival director when it is their cathedral's turn to host the event - currently, they are Charles Harrison, Andrew Lumsden and David Halls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Hey Lloyd</span> British organist and composer (1933–2021)

Richard Hey Lloyd was a British organist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Robertson Sinclair</span> English cathedral organist

George Robertson Sinclair was an English cathedral organist, who served at Truro and Hereford cathedrals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ignace Michiels</span> Belgian organist and choral conductor

Ignace Michiels is a Belgian organist, choral conductor and organ teacher. He is internationally known as a concert organist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriel Dessauer</span> German cantor, concert organist and academic

Gabriel Dessauer is a German cantor, concert organist, and academic. He was responsible for the church music at St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden from 1981 to 2021, conducting the Chor von St. Bonifatius until 2018. He is an internationally-known organ recitalist, and was an organ teacher on the faculty of the Hochschule für Musik Mainz. In 1985, he founded the German-English project choir, Reger-Chor. He has lectured at international conferences, especially about the music of Max Reger, who was a member of the St. Bonifatius parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Harford Lloyd</span> English composer and organist

Charles Harford Lloyd was an English composer who became a well-known organist in his time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organist</span> Musician who plays any type of organ

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 hymn-singing and play liturgical music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Saints' Church, Cheltenham</span> Church in Cheltenham, England

All Saints Church, Cheltenham, is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in Cheltenham.

Donald Frederick Hunt was an English conductor, from Gloucester. He was a distinguished English choral conductor, having made his conducting debut with the Halifax Choral Society in 1957.

References

  1. "Obituary: Melville Cook". The Independent , DONALD WEBSTER, 26 May 1993
  2. The American Organist . Vol. 27, Issues 7-12. American Guild of Organists; 1993. p. 53.
  3. The Three Choirs Festival: A History . Boydell & Brewer; 2017. ISBN   978-1-78327-209-9. p. 221–.
  4. Musart . Vol. 12-14. The Association; 1959. p. 7.
  5. Peter Letkemann. The Ben Horch Story . Old Oak Publishing; 2007. ISBN   978-0-9784686-0-6. p. 370.
  6. Don Ewing. As I Recall . Lulu.com; August 2009. ISBN   978-0-578-01275-9. p. 528–.
  7. Music: the AGO & RCCO Magazine . Vol. 11. American Guild of Organists.; 1977. p. 59.
  8. Musical Opinion . Vol. Volume 111, Issues 1321-1326. Musical Opinion; 1988. p. 82.
  9. Music: the AGO & RCCO Magazine . Vol. 10. American Guild of Organists.; 1976. p. 25.
  10. The Organ . Vol. 72 - Issue 290, Volume 73. Musical Opinion; 1992. p. 121.
Cultural offices
Preceded by Master of the Choristers and Organist Hereford Cathedral
1950–1956
Succeeded by