RIP John Shirley-Quirk

[Tony Halstead]

I echo the sentiments above.

This is my memory of how he came into our lives some fifty years ago:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SHIRLEY-QUIR.../dp/B009XSKMJY

A priceless jewel of a recording ... one of the very first LPs I ever bought, when aged about 15.

RIP John Shirley-Quirk

[Ferretfancy]

Back in 1958 I occasionally worked at the Jubilee Chapel in Hoxton, the home of the BBC Theatre Organ which was still broadcast regularly back then. One odd thing was that Sandy McPherson ( remember him ? -disliked studio managers and always insisted on a technical operator balancing his programmes. One of these was a very sentimental show called The Chapel in the Valley, which always made me feel some trepidation, as it was the first time I had ever opened a fader on a live broadcast.
There were some vocal items as well as the organ solos, and I met this young and very supportive singer in that rather dilapidated building. His name was John Shirley-Quirk.

A great singer and a good man.

[EdgeleyRob]

Farewell to a truly great singer.
Thank you for the Britten,RVW (Oh those Five Mystical Songs ),a fine Belshazzar's Feast (Previn,LSO) and so much more.

RIP John Shirley Quirk.

[edashtav]

Among much else in his recorded legacy, his VW "Songs of Travel" with Viola Tunnard from the early 1960s - unsurpassed.

Agreed.
A great British singer.

[mangerton]

One of my musical highlights was singing in the chorus at the 1980 Aix-en-Provence Festival. Haydn's Die Jahreszeiten -Yvonne Kenny, Robert Tear and John Shirley-Quirk, SCO, Pritchard.

[DublinJimbo]

This is desperately sad news. I always had a great deal of respect and admiration for him. I must dig out some of his recordings and listen again to his fine artistry.

[Mary Chambers]

A wonderful singer, and a splendid-looking man as well. The white streak in his dark hair always reminded me of Diaghilev, though I'm sure the resemblance ended there.

He lent his narrow boat, the Amelia di Liverpool to Britten and Pears, when Britten was ill in the last years of his life. His daughter, a child at the time, taught Pears how to drive (?) it, and they had an enjoyable holiday, with Britten's nurse in attendance. The boat's name was an amalgam of JSQ's mother's name Amelia with the Donizetti opera Emilia di Liverpool, Liverpool being JSQ's native city.

[Richard Tarleton]

And I was forgetting seeing him in Death in Venice...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

JS-Q was in some of the finest Elgar recordings:

Boult's The Kingdom
Britten's The Dream of Gerontius
Groves's The Light of Life
Hockox's The Light of Life

[Parry1912]

Very sad indeed. A wonderful voice and a fine artist.

[french frank]

Nostalgia: I've just got this LP on ebay - I got rid of mine with my old turntable. But now I have another turntable Suspect I paid rather less than £6 when I bought it brand new (slightly manky sleeve but, mine probably had too. ...):

[amateur51]

I recall vividly listening while out walking one Sunday to the Britten/Pears recording of Dream of Gerontius on my first tape Walkman with headphones and jumping suddenly when there was JS-Q's magnificent voice telling me to "Go forth!".

i think I saw him in Schoenberg's "Survivor from Warsaw" with Simon Rattle and CBSO too

[Roslynmuse]

[QUOTE=amateur51;391964]

i think I saw him in Schoenberg's "Survivor from Warsaw" with Simon Rattle and CBSO too

QUOTE]

He did the Schoenberg in Manchester with Noseda, the BBC Phil and the men of the Hallé Choir in Oct 2006 too. By that time he had a shock of snow-white hair. I seem to remember him doing Tippett's Child of our Time in Chester Cathedral during the Festival in ?1989/1990; Hickox conducting, I think. Can't remember who the other soloists were, but I think the rest of the programme was RVW Wasps Overture and Elgar Cello Concerto with Robert Cohen. RLPO, I think.

[Pabmusic]

A sad loss, but he leaves behind many fine memories.

[amateur51]

A sad loss, but he leaves behind many fine memories.

Not a bad epitaph Pabs