Michael John Hurd
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- See also: Michael J. Hurd from Ocean View, Delaware or artist Michael Hurd from Roswell, New Mexico[1]
| Michael John Hurd | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael John Hurd |
| Born | December 19, 1928 Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England, UK |
| Died | August 8, 2006 (age 78) Liss, England, UK |
| Genre(s) | Modern |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, conductor, musicologist |
Michael (John) Hurd was a noted composer[1] and author[2], principally known for his choral music[3]. He was born in Gloucester on 19 December 1928[4] and educated at 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 [5], before settling in East Hampshire where he took a leading role in the area’s music-making [6]. Like his fellow Petersfield resident, Wilfred Brown, Hurd championed the memory of Gerald Finzi, co-editing his letters[7]. 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 [8] , his work also reached a wider audience through film scores[9] and his materials for schoolchildren[10]. He is most noted for his "pop" cantata Jonah-Man Jazz (1966). He died on 8 August 2006.
[edit] References
- ^ Amongst others he wrote: Music's Praise (1968),Shepherd's Calendar (1975), Night Songs of Edward Thomas (1994) and Five Spiritual Songs (1996)
- ^ Major works include The Ordeal of Ivor Gurney (OUP, 1978) ISBN 0192117521; Vincent Novello and Company (Granada, 1981) ISBN 0246117338;and, Rutland Boughton and the Glastonbury Festival's (OUP, 1993) ISBN: 0091897637.
- ^ 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
- ^ for example he wrote both the The Orchestra (Phaidon, 1981) ISBN 0871964694 and An Outline History of European Music (Novello, 1968, revised 1988) ISBN 0853600767
- ^ Michael John Hurd at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ New Oxford Junior Companion to Music (1979) ISBN 1851521097
