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To mark Peter Hurford’s 75th birthday and to acknowledge his contribution to music at St Albans Cathedral, former choristers and lay clerks, friends and family have contributed £25,000 to endow in perpetuity a named chorister’s place in the Cathedral Choir. An additional £7,500 has made it possible to endow in perpetuity music on Peter Hurford’s birthday – 22 November.
The choristership was instituted at a service of Evensong on Sunday 20 November when Dr Hurford presented the first Hurford Chorister, Samuel Lake, with a specially engraved medal. The medal will be worn by the current, and succeeding, Hurford Choristers at all services.
Dr Peter Hurford was Master of the Music at St Albans Cathedral from 1958 until 1978. During that time he raised the musical standard of choral worship at St Albans to become on a par with the best and longest-established cathedral choirs in the country, and he achieved this without great endowment and without a choir school. He also presided over the rebuilding of the cathedral organ and founded the St Albans International Organ Festival.
While remaining a St Albans’ resident, his subsequent long and distinguished musical career was as a solo performer on the pipe organ and recording artist, teacher and writer. His most significant achievement is that he recorded all of Bach’s organ music for Decca and again in 34 commentated programmes for the BBC. His unique contribution to the world of church and organ music has been recognised in many ways including honorary doctorates and fellowships, and by the award of an OBE.
Speaking of Peter Hurford’s legacy, the current Master of Music at St Albans, Andrew Lucas, said: “It is a tremendous accolade to the impact Peter made on music here during his 20 years as Master of the Music that people have given so generously to honour his name in his lifetime. Peter made the Abbey’s music into something really special, and today we continue to enjoy the legacy of what he created. Generations of choristers, musicians and members of the congregation owe an immeasurable debt to the man who laid the groundwork by making music really come alive in St Albans in a unique way”. |
