- Michael John Hurd
-
Michael John Hurd 
Born 19 December 1928
GloucesterDied 8 August 2006 (aged 77)
LissAlma mater Pembroke College, Oxford Occupation Composer, conductor, musicologist Spouse unmarried Michael John Hurd (19 December 1928 - 8 August 2006) was a composer and musicologist principally known for his choral music[1].
He was born in Gloucester on 19 December 1928 and educated at The Crypt School, Gloucester[2] and Pembroke College, Oxford.He was also a composition pupil of Lennox Berkeley. After National Service he taught at the Royal Marines Band School at Deal[3], before settling in East Hampshire where he took a leading role in the area's music-making [4].
Like his fellow Petersfield resident, Wilfred Brown, Hurd championed the memory of Gerald Finzi, co-editing the composer's correspondence with Howard Ferguson.[5] He also championed the music of Rutland Boughton (he was Music Advisor to The Rutland Boughton Music Trust from 1978 to 2006) and Ivor Gurney. His life-long friends include the writer David Hughes and his actress wife Mai Zetterling. While his was first and foremost an academic career, his work also reached a wider audience through film scores[6] and his materials for schoolchildren. He is most noted for his "pop" cantatas such as Jonah-Man Jazz (1966). He died on 8 August 2006.
Contents
Selected compositions
- Pop cantatas:
- Jonah-Man Jazz (1966)
- Swingin' Samson (1973)
- Rooster Rag (1975)
- Music's Praise (1968)
- Dance Diversions (1972)
- Shepherd's Calendar (1975)
- Night Songs of Edward Thomas (1994)
- Five Spiritual Songs (1996)
Selected publications
- An Outline History of European Music (Novello, 1968, revised 1988) ISBN 0853600767
- The Ordeal of Ivor Gurney' (OUP, 1978) ISBN 0192117521
- New Oxford Junior Companion to Music (1979) ISBN 1851521097
- Vincent Novello and Company (Granada, 1981) ISBN 0246117338
- The Orchestra (Phaidon, 1981) ISBN 0871964694
- Rutland Boughton and the Glastonbury Festivals (OUP, 1993) ISBN 0091897637
References
- ^ Obituary, Independent Newspaper 16 August 2006 Lewis Foreman
- ^ See obituary by contempary at The Crypt School
- ^ Memories of ex bandsmen who knew Hurd
- ^ Tribute evening at Petersfield Music Festival,
- ^ Letters of Gerald Finzi and Howard Ferguson Ferguson, H;Hurd,M 2001 Solihull, Helion & Company Ltd ISBN 0851158234
- ^ Michael John Hurd at the Internet Movie Database
External links
Categories:- 1928 births
- 2006 deaths
- Petersfield, Hampshire
- English composers
- Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford
- People educated at The Crypt School, Gloucester
- Pop cantatas:
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