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David Hill

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

David Hill is an English choral conductor and organist. He was born in 1957 in Carlisle and was educated at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester and at St John's College, Cambridge, where he was an organ scholar under George Guest. As a boy he already appeared in an episode of Coronation Street from 1970, in which he broke into a church to play the organ.

Music and breakthrough

His career revolved around the English cathedral choirs. From 1980 he was for two years sub-organist of Durham Cathedral. He then directed the music at Westminster Cathedral, from 1982 to 1987, and at Winchester Cathedral, from 1987 to 2002. In those years he recorded a great deal of choral music, from Renaissance music by Tallis and Christopher Tye to Mozart, Rachmaninov, Fauré and Carmina Burana. Later he returned to St John's College as director of music, was principal conductor of the BBC Singers from 2007 to 2017 and led The Bach Choir in London. Since 2013 he has also worked in the United States as professor of choral conducting and conductor of the Yale Schola Cantorum.

Influence

The sound he strives for is that of the English cathedral choir: clear boys' voices and men's voices, sung in tune in a resonant space. His recordings show how broad that repertoire is and how strongly the choral tradition of the English church still resonates in the classical world. In 2019 the British Queen appointed him a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to music.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to one of the choral works on his album Spem in alium. Can you hear how the voices weave through one another like separate layers and yet form a single sound?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists