- Walter Hussey
Walter Hussey (
May 15 ,1909 – 1985) was anAnglican clergyman who had a great fondness forthe arts , commissioning a number of musical compositions and visual art for the church as well as amassing his own collection.Hussey was born in
Northampton and was educated atMarlborough College . After reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics atKeble College, Oxford he studied atRipon College Cuddesdon and was ordained in 1932.His first ministry was as Assistant Curate at St Mary Abbots,
Kensington , although within 5 years he was Vicar of St Matthew's,Northampton – a post he held from 1937 to 1955. As vicar of St Matthew’s he celebrated the church’s 50th anniversary by commissioning 'Rejoice in the Lamb ' fromBenjamin Britten . He later organised a concert byKirsten Flagstad . Other commissions includedHenry Moore 's 'Madonna and Child' sculpture, a 'Litany and Anthem for St Matthew's Day' fromW. H. Auden , 'Lo, the full, final sacrifice ' fromGerald Finzi , 'Crucifixion' fromGraham Sutherland and 'The Outer Planet' fromNorman Nicholson .He left Northampton to become Dean of
Chichester Cathedral , holding the post until he retired in 1977. Whilst there he commissioned Graham Sutherland to paint an altarpiece, askedLeonard Bernstein to compose the 'Chichester Psalms ' and also worked with John Piper,Geoffrey Clarke ,Cecil Collins ,Ceri Richards andMarc Chagall .Hussey’s own collection of art was bequeathed to the city of
Chichester and is now housed in [http://www.pallant.org.uk Pallant House Gallery] .
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