Baz was the first chorister to be awarded the Sir Edward
Bairstow scholarship which enabled him to receive tuition in organ and general musicianship from Dr Melville Cook.
The image to the left shows Dr. Cook grooving at his organ. Click on the organ to enlarge it.
Here is the lineage of Barry's musical instruction.
SIR JOHN FREDERICK BRIDGE
(b December 5, 1844, Oldbury, Worcestershire, d March 18, 1924, London).Buried: Wallakirk, Glass Parish (near Huntly), Aberdeenshire, Scotland.A composer and conductor, Bridge served as a boy chorister; organist at Rochester Cathedral; Manchester Cathedral (1869-75); Professor of Harmony at Owens College, Manchester (1872-5); and deputy organist at Westminster Abbey (1875-82). He was knighted in 1897.
More about Sir John
Frederick Bridge
Sir John Frederick Bridge taught...
SIR EDWARD BAIRSTOW
(b Huddersfield, 1874; d York, 1946).Edward Bairstow was born in Huddersfield in 1874.
After a period teaching at Windsor, in 1893 he became an apprentice to Frederick Bridge at Westminster Abbey, where he stayed for six years as pupil and assistant.
He also held an appointment as Organist and Choirmaster at All Saints', Norfolk Square, London until 1899, when he went to Lancashire to take up the post of Organist at Wigan Parish Church.
In 1906 he moved to Leeds Parish Church and was appointed Organist of York Minster in 1913, a post he held until his death in 1946. In York he maintained the choral services at a high level and greatly widened the repertoire.
He took the Doctorate of Music examinations at the University of Durham in 1902 and became Professor of Music there in 1929. This did not necessitate a move from York to Durham, for he was only required to give one lecture each year in order to fulfil his commitment.
He was knighted in 1932, and received the Degree of Hon. D.Litt. from Leeds University in 1936.
More about Sir Edward Bairstow
Sir Edward Bairstowe taught...
DR MELVILLE COOK
(b Gloucester, 18 June 1912; d Cheltenham, 22 May 1993).
English organist and conductor. He was a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral, 1923-8, and later studied with Brewer, Sumsion and Bairstow, gaining the FRCO in 1931 and the DMus from Durham University in 1940.
He was organist of Leeds Parish Church from 1937 to 1956 (interrupted by war service), founder of the Leeds Guild of Singers and also conductor of the Halifax Choral Society.
In 1956 he became cathedral organist at Hereford, where he conducted the choral society and was responsible for the Three Choirs Festivals held in the city. He emigrated to Canada in 1966, serving as organist of All Saints Church, Winnipeg, and conductor of the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir before moving to Toronto, to the Metropolitan United Church, the following year.
In Toronto he organized concerts and recitals as well as a series of oratorio performances with the Metropolitan Festival Choir - during his years in Canada Cook generally championed the cause of English music, and his conducting of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius was particularly admired.
He also taught at McMaster University and toured as a recitalist and adjudicator. Cook built up a fine reputation as a recitalist, both in Britain and overseas, and his recordings, notably those at Leeds Parish Church and Hereford Cathedral, testify to his fluent technique and the elegant control of his playing.
His compositions are limited to a few works for choir.
He retired to England in 1986.
Dr Melville Cook taught...
BARRY BOOTH
And they say educational standards are declining in this country...
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