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Last week I received the sad news of the death of the former Master of Music at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh. Dennis Townhill was a remarkable man in many ways and an innovator. He made it possible for girls to join a main Cathedral Choir long before any English Cathedral followed suit. He was also a leading figure in the setting up of a specialist music school at the Cathedral. This trained choristers but is better known for the encouragement of young musical talent, many of whom are engaged in concert halls throughout the world. He was a personal friend of the Scottish composer, Kenneth Leighton who wrote a number of pieces dedicated either to Dennis or the Cathedral. It became the venue for a number of world premiers. My particular thanksgiving for him came just after I was made Vice-Provost of the Cathedral. Amongst my duties was care of the choir and selection of hymns. The latter led to many lively sessions in his home with Mabel, his wife, sometimes acting as referee! Another of my duties was to act as Precentor at the Cathedral sung services (especially the daily sung Evensong). On my first occasion of doing this, I was rather nervous and immediately hit the wrong note. The deputy Organist kept hitting the key but inevitably my nervousness increased and there was no rescue! You can imagine that things went from bad to worse. Afterwards I told Dr. Townhill that I would never sing in the Cathedral again. “Just meet me in the Song School tomorrow morning” he replied. I did so with reluctance but he was gentle, kind and patient and before long he gave me musical confidence (still lacking now occasionally!). We had regular weekly meetings after that and I owe him a great debt because were it not for him, I would probably have remained musically mute. Through our sessions he taught me much more than how to sing the responses. He taught me a lot about Cathedral music and I can say that he instilled a love of our Anglican Choral tradition—one of the great glories of our Church. Countless generations of musical students and choristers owe so much to Dennis and so do I. I can’t remember if I ever told him how much his unassuming but competent teaching did for me. I suspect that we don’t always say thank you to those who have had an influence on our life. More’s the pity. Perhaps we have to be content with knowing that we carry part of their genius in the way our lives have been shaped. I know how much a part of my life was shaped by Dennis. The Song School had remarkable murals of angels and saint. Dennis is now among them and playing his part in the music of heaven. |