Heathcote Dicken Statham
CBE (7 December 1889 - 29 October 1973) was a conductor, composer and
organist of international repute.
Early life
He was the eldest son of
Henry Heathcote Statham
Henry Heathcote Statham (11 January 1839 - 29 May 1924)
, ''Hymntime''. Accessed: 3 September 2015.
(1839-1924) and Florence Elizabeth Dicken (1856-1938). His father was an amateur musician who played organ and contributed articles to
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. From
Gresham's School
Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...
,
Holt
Holt or holte may refer to:
Natural world
*Holt (den), an otter den
* Holt, an area of woodland
Places Australia
* Holt, Australian Capital Territory
* Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...
, Statham proceeded to
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where in March 1908 he was awarded the college's
organ scholarship of £60 a year for three years, before completing his musical education at the
Royal College of Music,
London.
[Heathcote Dicken Statham](_blank)
at amphion-recordings.com
Career
He became organist of
Calcutta Cathedral
St. Paul's Cathedral is a Church of North India (CNI) cathedral of Anglican background in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, noted for its Gothic architecture and dedicated to Paul the Apostle. It is the seat of the Diocese of Calcutta. The corne ...
1913 - 1920, then
St. Michael's College, Tenbury
St. Michael's College (the College of St. Michael and All Angels) was founded by Sir Frederick Ouseley in 1856 as a boys Preparatory School. Ouseley created the school to provide a model for the performance of Anglican church music. Choral se ...
1920 - 1926, then
St. Mary's Church, Southampton
St. Mary's Church, Southampton is a Church of England parish church, and the largest church in the port city of Southampton on the south coast of England. It is the mother church of this city with its forerunners spanning back to the first Saxon ...
1926 - 1928, and finally of
Norwich Cathedral, holding that post from 1928 to 1966.
On 9 April 1938, while Statham was playing it, the organ of the cathedral caught fire. In the choir, Statham's nickname was 'Dickey'.
As a composer he is best known for his ''Rhapsody on a Ground for organ'' (1944)
and his settings of the Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in E minor and G. His arrangements of
Christmas carols include ''Joy! Joy! from every Steeple''. In the 1980s
Christopher Palmer arranged ''The Bells of St Chad’s: Postlude for strings'' from the final movement of his ''Four Diversions'' for organ (1957).
He conducted the Norwich Philharmonic Orchestra on some one hundred and thirty occasions between 1928 and 1961, and during the
Second World War conducted the
London Symphony Orchestra.
He was appointed a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 1967 and died at the age of 83 on 29 October 1973.
Heathcote Dicken Statham
at brainyhistory.com
References
External links
Heathcote Dicken Statham
at boosey.com
Dicken-Statham Family Papers
at the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Statham, Heathcote Dicken
1889 births
1973 deaths
English composers
Musicians from Norwich
Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
People educated at Gresham's School
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
English organists
British male organists
English conductors (music)
British male conductors (music)
20th-century organists
20th-century British conductors (music)
20th-century British male musicians