Richard Hickox Memorial
On 12 March 2009 at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, the music world gathered with family and friends in remembrance and to give thanks for the life of Richard Hickox.
Nearly 2,000 were in attendance – amongst them representatives of most of the major musical institutions in the UK and many from abroad, including colleagues from Richard’s numerous associations and titled organisations, who joined together in an emotional and heartfelt musical tribute. Hickox’s own City of London Sinfonia was augmented by members of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra. The choir consisted of the London Symphony Chorus with members of the Richard Hickox Singers and St. Endellion Festival Chorus.
The music selected represented just a fraction of the broad repertoire conducted by Hickox across an extraordinary career and reflected his passion and special affinity for the works of British composers. Guests arrived early to hear Sir Charles Mackerras conduct music by Delius and Vaughan Williams, followed by Edward Gardner leading the orchestra in the Passacaglia from Britten’s Peter Grimes and Malcolm Arnold’s Cornish Dance No.3 prior to the beginning of the service.
Later, Sir Colin Davis conducted the Kyrie Eleison from Beethoven’s Mass in C, while Paul Daniel led a substantial extract from Mendelssohn’s Elijah with long-standing friend and colleague, Bryn Terfel, singing Elijah. Violinists Simon Standage and Andrew Watkinson performed the slow movement of the Bach Double Violin Concerto. The soprano Susan Gritton, mezzo soprano Felicity Palmer, tenor Philip Langridge and baritone Alan Opie also participated. Among those invited to give readings were Dame Janet Baker and the leading actor Robert Hardy, while Philip Langridge gave a moving and very personal address.
That so many major figures from the music world attended the service spoke volumes for the respect and affection in which Richard was held and of the indelible mark he has left on musical life in Britain and beyond. His incredible recorded legacy of over 300 discs will stand for generations to come, alongside memorable performances too numerous to count in the concert halls and opera houses of the world. In this spirit, the newly announced Richard Hickox Foundation looks to the future in its aim to provide support and assistance for those following in this remarkable musician’s footsteps. This is perhaps the most fitting tribute that can stand to an artist whose life and work inspired so many.
Back to Top
Philip Langridge's eulogy
We are gathered here, today, in St Paul’s Cathedral, to remember and to celebrate the life and work of Richard Hickox; an extraordinary man, who inspired us all. And I am sure that I am not alone, amongst the many others who worked with Richard, in saying that I still think of him every single day. He was, and always will be, an inspiration and a guiding light.
Richard lived his life in such a way that when we look at his many outstanding achievements, his wonderful qualities of generosity, love and kindness were ever present. Perhaps most striking of all was Richard’s ability to be a supportive and inspiring friend to everyone that he worked with, whilst at all times remaining the consummate professional, with enviable motivation and drive. Despite being one of the busiest conductors in the world, he always seemed to have time to help others, to listen to them when they were in trouble, to offer friendly advice, and above all to CARE. He was generous to all those who knew him, and had an extraordinary capacity to show his love, understanding, and compassion to all who worked with him.
Richard loved music and he loved people….and surfing and football… not playing it, but watching it! As long as it was Manchester United! He would have been chuckling away last night with his favourite team winning 2 nil. Chuckling and laughing, that was our Richard. Laughter was something Richard was good at, and it always made for a good working atmosphere.
I first met him just before he became organist and choirmaster at St. Margaret’s Westminster, and I remember his dynamic personality and iron determination. He was a fresh faced young man, just down from Queen's College Cambridge (where he had been an organ scholar) for whom nothing seemed impossible, and whose boundless enthusiasm was so infectious. At that time he also had quite a bad stammer, which endeared him to many of us. That was around 1970, when I also met his mother Jean, and his clergyman father Sydney, who made me so welcome in their house. From that time I felt like part of Richard’s extended family.
Richard’s style of conducting was always deeply connected with the music. He never felt the need to make ostentatious balletic effects on the podium, rather his gift was much deeper, and much more in tune with the music and his performers. As a result, music invariably glowed under his leadership.
To watch Richard conducting was not like watching a metronome. He had larger than life, expressive, broad gestures, which made abundant sense of the works he performed. He said himself, and I quote “however good your geometry is as a conductor, unless you have the spirit of the music inside you, it’s worth nothing”. The great jazz trumpeter, Miles Davis said “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s NOT there!” That was Richard’s particular gift – always to bring something of himself to the performance.
Richard instinctively recognised the beginning of something special, and that moment would be allowed to gather momentum and to blossom. Dylan Thomas wrote: “the force that through the green fuse drives the flower”. Richard was that force, and he knew intuitively how to make that flower blossom. I now recognise we were in the presence of a different kind of genius. Not the show off with a certain mystique, but a good honest person, who was there to experience something special with us, through the music. He was a normal, happy, enthusiastic, real person, with nothing to hide and nothing to fake.
He certainly had a passion for British music, performing and recording many rarities with astonishing freshness and vitality. But the sheer range of his repertoire was breathtaking: from early Baroque through the Classical and the Romantic periods, and right through to contemporary music, (where he commissioned many new works). Had he lived, his diary shows that he would have continued to work with more and more of the world’s leading orchestras.
Early in his career he formed the Richard Hickox singers and orchestra, and also the City of London Sinfonia. In the 80s he was artistic director of the Northern Sinfonia, and in1990 he co-founded the period instrument orchestra Collegium Musicum 90 with Simon Standage. He also became associate guest conductor of the LSO, (having been a memorable director of the LSO Chorus for many years), and in the year of the milenium he was made principal conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. He was also a regular with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
As well as his work with the ENO and Opera North, Richard had a long association with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and this led to more opera and concert engagements internationally. In 1997 he became music director of the Spoleto Opera Festival and then in 2005, he took up the post of music director for Opera Australia in Sydney. We worked together on Britten’s Death in Venice (in his first season there), and it was his desire to repeat that work in his St Endellion Festival in North Cornwall. We will of course honour that wish, with two concert performances of Death in Venice there in August this year. St. Endellion was his special place, where he surfed the ocean, spent quality time with his family, and made music with his friends.
As a son, a brother, a husband, and a father, Richard was always surrounded by his family. He had a wonderful son, Tom, with Fran (Francis Sheldon-Williams) and two lovely children (Adam and Abegail) with the singer, Pamela Helen Stephen. Tom (his eldest son) was always a source of great pride to Richard. He often talked about Tom’s progress at school and university as he was growing up. Now of course he is a grown man, and has his own career in music, which pleased Richard enormously. Tom has also been a great source of help and comfort to the whole family during these past few months, providing much needed strength and support at this sad time.
During the last four years, Adam and Abigail were educated in Sydney, where Richard was working, and also traveled back to the UK to be with him in London and St. Endellion. Both children were the centre of his life in every way. He couldn’t believe that he had such a beautiful and clever daughter, and his young son was a constant source of pride, with his ability to compose music and appear on stage while still so young. I remember, (while we were in Sydney in 2005), Richard conducted performances of “Hansel und Gretel”. Adam, who was around nine years old, sang in the chorus and Richard admitted to me the next day that he had been in floods of tears when little Adam came on stage as one of the ginger bread children. He was so very proud of his children.
Last October, performing Billy Budd together in Sydney, I was invited out every weekend to his family home. It was always very special to be in their company, and one could see the bond which they had together. Pamela always put Richard and the family first in her life, which meant radically changing her own singing career. Singing mostly with him, and less frequently with others, she managed successfully to balance her family and career. Richard loved her deeply, but could not have coped without her constant presence. Leaving Sydney, twice each year for 5 weeks without his family was torture to him, but with Pamela's extraordinary gift of organisation, (mixed with the deep love and respect she had for Richard), she was able to give him the stability and security that he needed.
He made over 300 recordings in his life time, mostly with his beloved Chandos Records, and these recordings now form the basis of his musical legacy by which he will be remembered. But the greatest memories of him for most of us, will be those gained through knowing and working with this special man.
God bless you Richard. You have touched very many people all over the world with your music making, your love and your generosity of spirit. We were privileged to have known you, and your memory will live on amongst us for ever.
Back to Top
Tributes from across the music world
“The shock of Richard Hickox’s sudden and unexpected death will resonate right around the globe and has robbed the music world of one of its most popular and respected musicians. It also takes away from his beloved family a deeply devoted husband, father, son and brother. Literally thousands of musicians who were touched by his talent, energy and that remarkable generosity of spirit of his will feel that loss as well. Richard never wavered or faltered in his commitment and support for others even when faced with the most daunting challenges. His ability to inspire the best through his passion for the music he conducted created countless memorable performances in the concert hall, on the opera stage and on disc. His championing of British music and his international successes, particularly in Sydney as well as his legacy of 100s of recordings across the whole spectrum of repertoire will remain for many years to come. All those who knew him will feel deeply for his wife Pamela and his three children to whom we offer our most sincere and heartfelt condolences.”  Stephen Lumsden
Managing Director, Intermusica |
"As well as losing an inspiring conductor, we have lost a great friend and supporter of the orchestra and chorus. His repertoire was wide and varied but his advocacy of British music was second to none."
David Murray: director, BBC National Orchestra of Wales
"The classical music world has lost a major figure whose musicianship and enthusiasm endeared him to audiences in opera houses and concert halls throughout the world.
Richard was a magnificent conductor and did wonderful work with many BBC performing groups, particularly his wonderful spell as principal conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales."
Roger Wright, BBC Radio 3 controller & director of the BBC Proms
“We are shocked and saddened by the passing of Richard Hickox. He was a wonderful human being and a wonderful musician who did so much to champion British music. He will be terribly missed.”
Antonio Pappano, music director of the Royal Opera House
"He had such enthusiasm to make things happen, and he managed to get performed and recorded a whole area of music that would otherwise not have been recognised. He made some fantastic performances of Vaughan Williams and Britten; and he was loved by artists."
Michael Berkeley, composer
"Seemingly indefatigable and bubbling with enthusiasm for everything he did, he was blessed with a boundless appetite for hard work.
Urbane, reticent and very English in demeanour... Hickox embodied the saying that “still waters run deep”."
Richard Morrison, The Times
"He conducted the first concert I ever saw, and opened up the universe of music to me. His sudden death is a huge blow, particularly to British music.
His sudden death on Sunday is a massive loss for the English National Opera's production, which was due to open on Thursday: director Fiona Shaw called him "our wonderful master". It is also a huge blow for those British composers - Rubbra, Dyson, Alwyn, Bliss - who Hickox championed but who other conductors rarely go near.
I have more personal reasons to lament Hickox's death. When I was eight, he conducted the first concert I ever saw, with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Glasgow's City Hall. I'll never forget the all-Mozart programme: the A-major symphony K201; Exsultate, Jubilate; and the Requiem. But it was the first movement of the symphony that was a seismic shock to my system. I'd never heard anything like this music. It seemed to cut to my core, and transport me to a new world of experience. That single moment opened up the universe of music to me, and nothing was ever the same again. I only had the chance to thank him in person last week. I'm grateful I was able to - and even more thankful for the life-changing gift of music that he gave me, 24 years ago."
Tom Service, The Guardian
"I'm really, really shocked and saddened. I spent a wonderful week with him just before he went back to the UK, doing the first week of serious workshops on [Bliss]. He took up the idea of my writing this piece with genuine enthusiasm. I'm so sad he won't be part of it."
Brett Dean, composer
"He was comfortable conducting baroque and classical era music as well as romantic and 20th repertoire. That's what always stood out for me."
Murray Black: Sydney opera and classical music critic, The Australian
"We and countless others admired his musicianship, tenacity and his immense dedication to the championing of British repertoire. He was always very warm and caring -enquiring after players' wellbeing and taking an interest in their lives and he shall be sorely missed by all."
Kathryn McDowell: Managing Director, Lennox Mackenzie: Chairman & Sub Leader, London Symphony Orchestra
"Richard Hickox occupied a unique position in British musical life. He was the most enthusiastic and energetic champion of British music we could ever hope for, and his discography is a legacy that current and future generations will cherish. His rich musicianship was respected and admired by orchestras around the world, but he was also someone for whom musicians and administrators alike had the utmost affection. His ability to communicate with audiences was also remarkable; he made very many people feel as though they knew him personally.
It has been a huge privilege for us to work with him throughout this year (and for many years of planning before that) on bringing to life our Vaughan Williams series The Pioneering Pilgrim. The heart of the series was a semi-staged production of Vaughan Williams’s operatic masterpiece The Pilgrim’s Progress, at Sadlers Wells in June, a production that owed its life and soul to Richard’s vision, and a profoundly moving musical experience for everyone involved.
As soon as the final note of the last concert in our Vaughan Williams symphony cycle sounded in the Royal Festival Hall, just over a fortnight ago, Richard was inspiring us with new plans for our next great projects together. We will miss Richard terribly, and in so many ways, but perhaps most of all in the knowledge of the wonderful work that he was so eager to create and perform in the years to come."
Alistair Mackie: Chairman and Co-Principal Trumpet, David Whelton: Managing Director, Philharmonia Orchestra
"On record, his account of the original 1913 version of the London Symphony is in a class of its own. There is a terrific Carmina Burana with the LSO, as well as the complete choral works of Herbert Howells and a reverential Mendelssohn Elijah that show his feel for Anglican tradition. But it is a Catholic, Edmund Rubbra, whom Hickox espoused more convincingly than any modern interpreter. In the hands of Richard Hickox, the reticent Rubbra began to sound like a full English Bruckner."
Norman Lebrecht, Evening Standard
"Richard's incredible warmth and infectious enthusiasm made him a great colleague, supporter and friend. He will be greatly missed by everyone who has worked with him."
Edward Gardner: music director, English National Opera
Back to Top