John Shirley-Quirk

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John Stanton Shirley-Quirk

Tchaikovsky to Henze
.

Biography

Shirley-Quirk was born in

Brunel University. In that period he resumed his vocal studies with Roy Henderson.[1] According to Imogen Holst, it was during this period while "earning his living as a schoolmaster" that Shirley-Quirk joined the Purcell Singers, performing at the Aldeburgh Festival.[2] He was a Vicar Choral (choir singer or lay-clerk) at St Paul's Cathedral from 1961 to 1962.[3]

In 1961 Shirley-Quirk was understudy for the role of Gregor Mittenhofer in the British premiere of

Last Night of the Proms in Walton's Belshazzar's Feast.[1]

With

Edinburgh Festival), Eugene Onegin and Golaud.[3][4] He created the role of Gil-Martin in Thomas Wilson
's Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1976).

In Shirley-Quirk's wide concert repertory, he was particularly noted as a fine interpreter of Friar Lawrence in Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette, and in the solos in Bach's Passions, Handel's oratorios, Haydn's The Creation and The Seasons, Brahms's German Requiem, Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius (which he recorded with Britten conducting) and Tippett's The Vision of St Augustine (recorded under the composer's baton in 1971).[3] In 1977 Shirley-Quirk created the role of Lev in Tippett's The Ice Break at Covent Garden.[1] He also distinguished himself as an intelligent and sympathetic interpreter of lieder, mélodies and English song.[3]

Shirley-Quirk's vast discography includes many of Britten's works, Mahler's Eighth Symphony under Sir Georg Solti on Decca, and Vaughan Williams' vocal works under Sir David Willcocks and the Choir of King's College, Cambridge for EMI. He also sang in the premiere recording of Delius's Requiem in 1968, under Meredith Davies, shortly after a rare live performance (only the work's fifth performance in 62 years) at the Albert Hall with the same forces. Among his early recordings for Saga of British songs is the first complete version (including the Epilogue) of Vaughan Williams's Songs of Travel.

His vocal art was noted for its "authoritative yet richly communicative" quality, while the gift for musical and verbal detail of a natural Lieder singer and the "oiled-teak smoothness" of his voice took listeners "to profound interpretive depths".[5]

Shirley-Quirk was appointed associate artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival in 1982. From 1991 he was on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, MD.[1]

Personal life

In 1975, Shirley-Quirk was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).[6]

Shirley-Quirk was married to Patricia ("Pat") Hastie, who died in 1981, then oboist Sara Watkins, who died in 1997. In 2009 he married cellist Teresa Perez. He died of cancer at the age of 82 in Bath on 7 April 2014.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "John Shirley-Quirk – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  2. ISBN 978-1-84383-599-8
    . p. 372
  3. ^ a b c d Alan Blyth. " Shirley-Quirk, John", Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, Oxford University Press, accessed 9 April 2014 (subscription required)
  4. ^ OperaScotland
  5. ^ Webber, Christopher. Obituary. Opera. June 2014, Vol 65 No 6, p706-707.
  6. ^ LeSueur, Richard. "John Shirley-Quirk". AllMusic.com. AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  7. ^ Fox, Margalit. "John Shirley-Quirk, a Bass-Baritone and Specialist in Britten, Is Dead at 82". New York Times. Retrieved 20 April 2014.

External links

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