Christopher Hugh Dearnley (11 February 1930 – 15 December 2000) was an English cathedral organist, who served in Salisbury Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral.

Background

Christopher Hugh Dearnley was born on 11 February 1930 in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

. He was educated at

Cranleigh School Cranleigh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. History It was opened on 29 September 1865 as a boys' school 'to provide a sound and plain education, on the principles o ...

. He was organ scholar at Worcester College, Oxford, from 1948 to 1952. From 1954 to 1968 he was engaged at Salisbury Cathedral, as assistant organist and (in 1957) organist. He also was conductor of the Salisbury Medical and Orchestral Societies, and was joint conductor of the annual

Southern Cathedrals Festival The Southern Cathedrals Festival (known for short as "SCF") is a 5-day music festival held in rotation among the cathedrals of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury in England, in the penultimate week of July. The festival was restored in 1960 aft ...

(a collaboration between the Salisbury, Chichester, and Winchester cathedrals). Whilst organist at St Paul's he would greatly amuse the choristers by turning up for choir practice in his plus fours which he would also wear whilst cycling around the City of London early in the mornings doing a (presumably one of his children's) paper round. In 1963 he headed the faculty for the Wa-Li-Ro Choir School in Put-in-Bay, Ohio, along with

Leo Sowerby Leo Salkeld Sowerby (1 May 1895 – 7 July 1968) was an American composer and church musician. He won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1946 and was often called the “Dean of American church music” in the early to mid 20th century. Biography ...

and Paul Beymer. On his retirement from St Paul’s Cathedral, he was appointed

LVO The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

in the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours list. Dearnley was also president of the

Incorporated Association of Organists An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...

(IAO), 1968–1971, and chairman of the

Friends of Cathedral Music The Friends of Cathedral Music (FCM) is a charity which seeks to maintain and expand the work of choral foundations of cathedrals, collegiate churches, chapels, and other appropriate places of worship in the United Kingdom and Ireland. To this end, ...

, 1971-1989. The Archbishop of Canterbury awarded him a Lambeth doctorate of music in 1987 and he was made a fellow of the Royal School of Church Music in 1995.”Obituaries: Dr Christopher Dearnley”, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 8 Jan 2001, p 15. Dearnley and his wife, Bridget, migrated to Australia in 1990. Both committed nudists, their first stop in Australia was a nudist camp near Wadong, Victoria. While in Australia, Dearnley undertook locums as director of music at

Christ Church St Laurence Christ Church St Laurence is an Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican church (building), church located at 814 George Street, Sydney, George Street, near Central railway station, Sydney, Central railway station and Haymarket, in City of Sydney, S ...

(1990), St David’s Cathedral, Hobart (1991),

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

at the University of Melbourne (1992-1993), St George’s Cathedral, Perth (1993-1994), St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney (1995), and Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle (1996-1997). He also became patron of the

Organ Historical Trust of Australia The Organ Historical Trust of Australia (OHTA) is a national organisation which works towards: * the protection, conservation and restoration of pipe organs in Australia, * the preservation of records pertaining to their history, the promotio ...

in 1991. He also wrote and edited several studies and histories of English church music, including ''Treasury of English church music, Volume 3 (1650-1760)'' (1965). He was one of the editors of The New English Hymnal. He died in Australia on 15 December 2000.

Career

Assistant organist of: * Salisbury Cathedral 1954 - 1957 Organist of: * Salisbury Cathedral 1957 - 1968 * St Paul's Cathedral 1968 - 1990

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dearnley, Christopher 1930 births 2000 deaths English classical organists British male organists Cathedral organists Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford People educated at Cranleigh School 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century English musicians 20th-century organists 20th-century British male musicians English emigrants to Australia Male classical organists