John Sanders (musician)
John Derek Sanders
Education
Born in Wanstead, Essex he attended Felsted School on a music scholarship, where he had his first organ lessons.[1] In 1950 he began two years study at the Royal College of Music leading to his ARCM diploma.[1] Here he was taught by Sir John Dykes Bower, the then organist at St Paul's Cathedral.[2]
This was followed by a
Early career
On the completion of his National Service in 1958 he took up the appointment of Assistant Organist at Gloucester, a post which also included being Director of Music at The King's School, Gloucester.[3] Here he met the third major musical influence on his life, Herbert Sumsion.
In 1963 he moved north, to Chester Cathedral, to take charge of the choir there. Whilst in Chester he met his wife, Janet; and had his first experience of running a music festival, the Chester Festival.[2]
Gloucester
1967 saw the retirement of Sumsion, and Sanders returned to Gloucester as Organist, taking on as well the conductorships of the Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra and Gloucester Choral Society.[1] The following year saw him follow in Sumsion's footsteps once more, becoming Director of Music at Cheltenham Ladies' College.[1]
As with the organists at
He became a Freeman of the City of London in 1986.[3] In 1990 he served as President of the Cathedral Organists' Association, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, awarded him the Lambeth degree of Doctor of Music.[1] 1991 saw him being made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music.[3]
Retirement
Sanders retired from Gloucester in 1994 and was appointed an
Retirement gave Sanders more time to pursue composition (although he continued his work at Cheltenham until 1997).[1] He also moved away from Gloucester – to Upton Bishop, near Ross-on-Wye – where he continued to play the organ in the parish church.[3]
Late in 2003 the Guild of Church Musicians marked his contribution to church music in a special service at Westminster Cathedral. He was recovering from a hip operation in Hereford Hospital when he died of pneumonia on 23 December 2003.
Musical compositions
Sanders's compositions include:
Choral
Liturgical
- Festival Te Deum (1962)
- Preces and responses (based on the Dresden Amen) (1983)
- Te Deum (1985)
- Jubilate Deo (1986)
- Two Prayers (1988)
- A Canticle of Joy SS + organ (1991)
- The Reproaches (Publication date 1993)
- St Mark Passion (Publication date 1993)
- The Firmament (2000) – for the choir of St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham
Other
- Requiem
- Gloucester Visions cantata (1995)
- Urbs Beata cantata for brass, double choir and soloists (2001), Three Choirs commission
Organ
- Soliloquy (1977)
- Toccata (1979).
Sources
- ^ Independent News & Media. Archived from the originalon 1 October 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
- ^ a b c d Armiger, William (24 January 2004). "Obituary: John Sanders". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
- ^ Incorporated Association of Organists. Incorporated Association of Organists. pp. Gloucestershire Organists' Association subsite. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
- ^ "No. 53696". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 June 1994. p. 14.
External links
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