- John Sanders (musician)
John Derek Sanders
OBE , MA (Cantab),D.Mus (Cantuar),FRCO ,ARCM , HonRSCM, (23 November 1933 –23 December 2003 ) was a celebrated Britishorganist , conductor,choir trainer andcomposer . He was organist ofGloucester Cathedral from 1967 – 1994, and director of theThree Choirs Festival from 1968 – 1994.Education
Born in
Wanstead ,Essex he attendedFelsted School on a musicscholarship , and it was there he had his first organ lessons.cite news |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article37717.ece |title=John Sanders: Dynamic cathedral organist and composer |first=Kenneth |last=Shenton| work=The Independent |publisher=Independent News & Media |date=2003-12-31 |accessdate=2007-08-09] In 1950 he began two years study at theRoyal College of Music leading to his ARCMdiploma . Here he was taught by SirJohn Dykes Bower , then organist atSt Paul's Cathedral .cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,1129268,00.html |title=Obituary: John Sanders |first=William |last=Armige |work=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian Media Group |date=2004-01-24 |accessdate=2007-08-09]This was followed by a
Bachelor of Music degree at theUniversity of Cambridge where Sanders was anorgan scholar atGonville and Caius College and was influenced byPatrick Hadley . During this time he also achieved his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists.cite web |url=http://www.iao.org.uk/goa/Dr_John_Sanders.htm |title=Dr John Sanders |accessdate=2007-08-09 |work=Website of theIncorporated Association of Organists |publisher=Incorporated Association of Organists |pages=Gloucestershire Organists' Association subsite]Early career
National Service in theRoyal Artillery followed his graduation, but even here Sanders found opportunities fororchestra l conducting.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 . 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.Gloucester
1967 saw the retirement of Sumsion, so Sanders returned to Gloucester as Organist, taking on as well the conductorships of the Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra and Gloucester Choral Society. The following year saw him follow in Sumsion's footsteps once more, becoming Director of Music at
Cheltenham Ladies' College .As with the organists at Hereford and
Worcester Cathedral s, the position at Gloucester brings the high profile role of directing theThree Choirs Festival . The now annual Festival is hosted by each cathedral in turn, the local Organist directing the festival each year. Sanders time at Gloucester saw him direct nine Festivals, including that in 1977 which was marked the 250th Festival (the history of the Festival can however be traced to 1715), as well as theSilver Jubilee of Elizabeth II . From 1975, the direction of the Festival was helped by the fact that for almost 20 years the directors remained the same, with Sanders establishing a close working relationship withRoy Massey at Hereford and Donald Hunt at Worcester.He became a Freeman of the
City of London in 1986. In 1990 he served as President of the Cathedral Organists' Association, and theArchbishop of Canterbury ,Robert Runcie , awarded him theLambeth degree ofDoctor of Music . 1991 saw him being made an Honorary Fellow of theRoyal School of Church Music .Retirement
Sanders retired from Gloucester in 1994 and became an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in theQueen's Birthday Honours list that year.LondonGazette |issue=53696 |startpage=14 |date=10 June 1994 |supp=yes |accessdate=2007-08-09] . Following his retirement, Gloucester Cathedral granted him the title of "Organist Emeritus".Retirement gave Sanders more time to pursue composition (although he continued his work at Cheltenham until 1997). He also moved away from Gloucester — to
Upton Bishop , nearRoss-on-Wye — where he continued to play the organ in the local parish church..Late in 2003 the
Guild of Church Musicians marked his contribution to church music in a special service atWestminster Cathedral . He was recovering from a hip operation inHereford Hospital when he died ofpneumonia on 23 December 2003.Musical compositions
Sanders's compositions include:
Choral
Liturgical *
Preces and responses
*"FestivalTe Deum " (1962)
*Te Deum (1985)
*Jubilate Deo (1986)
*Two Prayers (1988)
*A Canticle of Joy (1991)
*The Reproaches (1993)
*St Mark Passion (1993)Other
*
Requiem
*"Gloucester Visions"cantata (1995)
*"Urbs Beata" cantata for brass, double choir and soloists (2001), Three Choirs commissionOrgan
*Soliloquy (1977)
*Toccata (1979).ources
External links
* [http://www.sanderssociety.org.uk The Sanders Society]
* [http://www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk Gloucester Cathedral]
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