- Simon Preston
Simon Preston (born
4 August 1938 ,Bournemouth ,England ) is an Englishorganist , conductor, andcomposer .Early life
He attended the
Canford School in Wimborne inDorset . Originally achorister atKing's College, Cambridge , he studied the organ with C. H. Trevor before returning to King's asorgan scholar .Organist
He was sub-organist of
Westminster Abbey from 1962-7, and organist ofChrist Church, Oxford from 1970 before returning to Westminster as Organist and Master of the Choristers in 1981. He relinquished his Westminster post in 1987, and has since led an international concert career, and has also composed works for the organ, the best-known of which is probably his "Alleluyas", written in the style ofOlivier Messiaen .His playing, always very clean and precise, has mellowed from the fiery and incisive style of his younger days, to the more sedate and comfortable now, though always with mastery of the instrument and the work in question. He has many recordings to his credit, including the complete works of
J. S. Bach and the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony, withJames Levine conducting theBerlin Philharmonic Orchestra , both forDeutsche Grammophon , He has playedharpsichord (particularly earlier in his career), including on a recording of the "Concert Champêtre ", as well as organ. He has recordedHandel 's complete organ concertos twice: withYehudi Menuhin conducting the Bath Festival Orchestra and later onhistorical instruments withTrevor Pinnock directingThe English Concert .External links
* [http://www.concertorganists.com/htdocs/artistdocs/preston.html Biography and Press Reviews]
* [http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Preston-Simon.htm Simon Preston (Conductor, Organ, Harpsichord)]s-ttl|title=Organist and Master of the Choristers of
Westminster Abbey
years=1981 –1988
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