RIP Peter Aston

[bach736]

Sadly, Peter Aston died on Friday, September 13th.
Emeritus Professor of Music at UEA, composer, conductor and vociferous supporter of Norwich City FC, he will be sorely missed by friends, colleagues and pupils.

Witty, perceptive, gentle, a brilliant musician and teacher.
We owe him a great deal.

Peter's funeral is on Tuesday, October 1st at 12 noon in Norwich Cathedral.

[MrGongGong]

Very sad news indeed
and a great shame that the music department at UEA is closing this year

[Tony Halstead]

the music department at UEA is closing this year

What?
Unbelievable....!
Are you sure?

[MrGongGong]

What?
Unbelievable....!
Are you sure?

Yes
discussed at length here , and elsewhere
a really sad loss and I expect it wont be the last

http://www.uea.ac.uk/music

in spite of a campaign by many enthusiastic ex students and others it's a done deal i'm afraid ..........

[ardcarp]

...yes, protesting doesn't work. Philistinism over-ruled huge protest at Exeter a few years ago when their music dept closed on the grounds of not being 'cost effective'. And Exeter being a cathedral city with choral scholars...

But back to Peter Aston. Loved his carol, Dormi Jesu.

[secret squirrel]

My time at UEA and Norwich Cathedral (91-94 and -95 respectively) were some of the happiest days of my life.

I learned SO much from the now deceased Prof Aston and DrChad (as well as the still very much alive Michael Nicholas).

The decision to close the School of Music (they kept the 'Art History' bit of 'AHM', I note) will I hope pain those whose decision it was to their very own dying days (but I doubt it); and they still have the nerve to send me 'begging letters' every so often.. grrr!

So many fine musicians hailed from UEA and of course (as he was fond of saying), Prof Aston's friendship with Britten and Imogen Holst was another link to great musicians that is now wholly in the past.

What a shame I didn't log on to the forum earlier. Sorry if it's a bit of a 'bump thread' now.

[french frank]

Thanks for posting that, bach736 - Peter was a FoR3 supporter ... RIP

[Vox Humana]

Philistinism over-ruled huge protest at Exeter a few years ago when their music dept closed on the grounds of not being 'cost effective'.

The inverted commas are well judged, Exeter's excuse begging the question of how they defined "effective". You probably don't need me to tell you that Exeter's music and chemistry departments were sacrificed primarily because of the university's decision to fund (in conjunction with the ERDF and Cornwall County Council) the building of a new university campus in Cornwall. Smoke, mirrors and politics.

Prof Aston is a sad loss to music. I hope that in time he will become more honoured in the performance than the reputation. I think he deserves it.