John Noble (2 January 1931 – 21 March 2008) was an English baritone. He was

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

's favourite in the title role of the composer's opera ''The Pilgrim's Progress''.

Early life

Born in Southampton, the son of a gardener, Noble's love of music and performance began at

Godalming Grammar School Godalming Grammar School was a state-funded selective grammar School taking both boys and girls, situated in Tuesley Lane, Godalming, England. Organisation Post-war, students were selected via the eleven-plus examination. From the early 1960s, ...

, Surrey. He gained a scholarship to

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college traces its origins back to 1869 and the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...

, where he graduated in geography. While there, he studied singing with the baritone

Clive Carey Francis Clive Savill Carey CBE (30 May 188330 April 1968), known as Clive Carey, was an English baritone, singing teacher, composer, opera producer and folk song collector. Biography Clive Carey was born at Sible Hedingham, Essex, in 1883. He ...

, and

George Guest George Guest CBE FRCO (9 February 1924 – 20 November 2002) was a Welsh organist and choral conductor. Birth and early life George Guest was born in Bangor, Gwynedd. His father was an organist and Guest assisted him by acting as organ blo ...

arranged for him to join the choir of St. John's College for a postgraduate year.

Career

In 1954, Noble took the title role in

Dennis Arundell Dennis Drew Arundell OBE (22 July 1898 in Finchley, London – 10 December 1988 in Camden, London

's production of Ralph Vaughan Williams's ''The Pilgrim's Progress'' at the

Cambridge Guildhall Cambridge Guildhall is a civic building in the centre of the historic city of Cambridge, England. It includes two halls, ''The Large Hall'' and ''The Small Hall'', and is used for many disparate events such as comedy acts, conferences, craft fai ...

. The composer's wife,

Ursula Vaughan Williams Joan Ursula Penton Vaughan Williams (née Lock, formerly Wood; 15 March 1911 – 23 October 2007) was an English poet and author, and biographer of her second husband, the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. Biography Born in Valletta, Malta, th ...

, recalled that Noble brought "a touching and dedicated dignity as the Pilgrim", and after the production's opening Vaughan Williams said, "''This'' is what I meant."Ursula Vaughan Williams. ''RVW: A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams''. Oxford University Press, 1988: p. 344 In 1970, Noble was asked to sing the role in the EMI recording conducted by Sir

Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...

. A year of teaching geography followed university, but then he joined the

BBC Singers The BBC Singers are a British chamber choir, and the professional chamber choir of the BBC. One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time professional British c ...

and went on to make a living from solo engagements, supplemented by recordings with the

Ambrosian Singers The Ambrosian Singers are an English choral group based in London. History They were founded after World War II in England. One of their co-founders was Denis Stevens (1922–2004), a British musicologist and viola player who joined the BBC Mu ...

. As a concert singer his repertoire included Bach (singing the voice of Jesus in the Passions), Handel, Elgar, Britten, Delius, Tippett and Vaughan Williams. His operatic work included the vicar in Britten's ''

Albert Herring ''Albert Herring'', Op. 39, is a chamber opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten. Composed in the winter of 1946 and the spring of 1947, this comic opera was a successor to his serious opera ''The Rape of Lucretia''. The libretto, by Eric Cr ...

'' for the

English Opera Group The English Opera Group was a small company of British musicians formed in 1947 by the composer Benjamin Britten (along with John Piper, Eric Crozier and Anne Wood) for the purpose of presenting his and other, primarily British, composers' opera ...

, conducted by the composer and subsequently recorded by Decca (1964). The conductor

Meredith Davies (Albert) Meredith Davies CBE (30 July 1922 – 9 March 2005) was a British conductor, renowned for his advocacy of English music by composers such as Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius and Ralph Vaughan Williams. His co-conducting, with the comp ...

invited him to join the staff of

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

, London. He later taught at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

, Manchester, and had a thriving teaching practice for the rest of his life. He died aged 77 of pancreatic cancer.

Discography

* Britten – ''

''; with English Opera Group/Benjamin Britten (1964, Decca) * Delius – '' Sea Drift''; with Liverpool Philharmonic Chorus; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/

Charles Groves Sir Charles Barnard Groves CBE (10 March 191520 June 1992) was an English conductor. He was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors. After accompanying positions and conducting ...

(1973, EMI) * Carl Orff – ''

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...

''; with

Raymond Wolansky Raymond Wolansky (15 February 1926 – 1 December 1998) was an American operatic baritone who made a career in Europe. A long-term member of the Staatsoper Stuttgart, he appeared in leading roles such as Verdi's Nabucco and Rigoletto at internati ...

(tenor),

Lucia Popp Lucia Popp (born Lucia Poppová; 12 November 193916 November 1993) was a Slovak operatic soprano. She began her career as a soubrette, and later moved into the light-lyric and lyric coloratura soprano repertoire and then the lighter Richard S ...

(soprano); New Philharmonia Chorus (chorus master: Wilhelm Pitz),

Wandsworth School Boys' Choir Wandsworth School was a local authority maintained boys' secondary school in Southfields, London. Established in 1895, it became a selective grammar school, then an all-ability comprehensive school, before merging in 1986 and finally closin ...

, New Philharmonia Orchestra,

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (born Rafael Frühbeck; 15 September 1933 – 11 June 2014) was a Spanish conductor and composer. Frühbeck was born in Burgos, Spain to a family of German ancestry. He first took up conducting while on military serv ...

(1966, EMI). * Vaughan Williams – ''

The Pilgrim's Progress ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a progenitor of ...

''; with London Philharmonic Choir; London Philharmonic Orchestra/

(1970–71, EMI)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, John 1931 births 2008 deaths Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge English operatic baritones People educated at Godalming Grammar School Musicians from Southampton Academics of the Royal Northern College of Music Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in England 20th-century British male opera singers