Martin John Richard How (3 April 1931 – 25 July 2022) was a British composer and organist.

Early life and education

How was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

on 3 April 1931, to the Rev. John How, who at the time was Rector of St. Nicholas Church, and Junie Katherine Reynolds, who died when How was a young boy. In 1938 his father was appointed

Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway The Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Scottish Episcopal Church Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway. Brief history When the dioceses of Glasgow and Galloway were combined in 1837, Michael ...

, and How spent most of his childhood in Scotland. Educated at

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, ...

, where he was a music scholar, he was awarded an organ scholarship to

Clare College Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, where he read music and theology. In this post he had responsibility for the Chapel Choir of men and boys and the Choral Society. He was a keen athlete and ran for the university, narrowly missing being awarded a 'Blue' for cross-country running.

Career

After university How served in the army for two years, where he gained a National Service Commission, seeing the experience as invaluable for his later profession. He then worked as organist and choirmaster at Grimsby Minster and was also involved in teaching and various musical activities. How spent most of his career with the

Royal School of Church Music The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...

, where he was known principally as a choir trainer specialising in the training and motivation of young singers. In this capacity he initiated and developed the Chorister Training Scheme, which has since been used in various forms in many parts of the world. He inaugurated the Southern Cathedral Singers, a group that has frequently been broadcast on BBC Radio 3's

Choral Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

from

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

and elsewhere. He also traveled widely in the United States of America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands as a choral conductor, accompanist, lecturer and adjudicator.

Retirement and legacy

Following his retirement from the Royal School of Church Music, How continued to compose and play the organ as an honorary member of the music staff at

Croydon Minster Croydon Minster is the parish and civic church of the London Borough of Croydon. There are currently more than 35 churches in the borough, with Croydon Minster being the most prominent. It is Grade I and II* listed buildings in Croydon, Grade I l ...

. He was awarded an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

for services to church music in the

1993 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1993 were appointments by most of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countr ...

. How died on 25 July 2022, at the age of 91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:How, Martin 1931 births 2022 deaths 21st-century British male musicians 21st-century organists Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge British classical organists British male organists Composers of Christian music Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Repton School Musicians from Liverpool Male classical organists