Today I am sad....

and the reason is that this morning on BBC World Service I learned that [[David Fanshaw]] died recently at the age of 68....

It may not have been my favourite piece to perform, but [[African Sanctus]] was memorable for the fact that the composer, Mr Fanshaw, personally supervised our performance at the dress rehearsal and when he conducted and at the actual performance when he controlled the mixing desk.

He may have been an outspoken eccentric, I may not have loved the music he made, but even then he sang well enough and carried the piece of music with such enthusiasm it was irresistable.  He even told us of his student days in the area when he would hitch lifts to the coast.  And his wife was in charge of CD sales and many years his junior, so I really feel for her surviving him...

Sad day indeed - they played "Lord's Prayer" from the Sanctus dedicated to the composer and it was a lovely memory with which to pray for him... Amen

07:24 AM | 1 Comment | Tags: , ,

Comments

  1. it is sad. he was a sweet if slightly obsessed man but with obsession as you say comes passion sometimes too. he had obviously had life changing experiences and it must have been something wonderful for him to have his music so often performed. he loved his wife and was completely batty over his dogs. he struck me as kind too. funny that we sang his sanctus together but weren't as it were then!

    annie on