Page 3, 24th October 1997

24th October 1997

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Page 3, 24th October 1997 — Obituary: George Malcolm
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Locations: Victoria, London

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Obituary: George Malcolm

GEORGE MALCOLM, who died on 10 October aged 80, was a brilliant and influential Master of the Music at Westaminster Cathedral who permanently invigorated the traditional sound of boys' voices and with his exuberance at the keyboard did much to restore the harpsichord to popularity.
Appointed to the Cathedral by Cardinal Griffin in 1947, Malcolm taught the choir an uninhibited and un-English style of singing which owed something to the Vienna Boys Choir and something to the screaming of boys in a playground. The raw, expressive sound contrasted with the prevailing Anglican "hooting" style, but has since become widely accepted. The present Master of the Music, James O'Donnell, said the Malcolm style was still detectable at the Cathedral today.
Hearing the choir in January 1959, Benjamin Britten noted its "staggering brilliance and authority". Britten composed Missa Brevis, which he dedicated to Malcolm and the boys, at great speed, so that it could be played before Malcolm's retirement in July 1959. The recording of the premiere became a hit. One of Malcolm's successors at the Cathedral, Colin Mawby, described his recording of Victoria's Tenebrae Responsories as "a summation of his achievement" that "amply reveals the dramatic emotional depth of his spirituality". Many of Malcolm's other recordings became bestsellers.
During the Baroque Revival of the 1970s, he became one of the international stars of the harpsichord, at which he was a virtuoso. But he considered himself a pianist first and returned to the piano later in life.
George John Malcolm was born on 28 February, 1917, in London, and educated at Wimbledon College, Balliol and the Royal College of Music. His father died when he was very young. A child prodigy, he began playing and composing on the three manual organ and violin at three. The Jesuit choirmaster at the Sacred Heart, Wimbledon, Fr Driscoll, probably contributed to Malcolm's style, and one of the Tenebrae Responsories recorded by Malcolm uses Driscoll's rescoring.
His greatest personal achievement was perhaps his brave battle with the alcoholism which threatened his health and his career in the 1950s. Friends said that his manner could be brusque, but he treated younger musicians with immense kindness and generosity and gave boys a new freedom to espress themselves through singing.
He was an honorary fellow of Balliol, a CBE and a Knight of the Order of St Gregory.




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