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Memories and tributes to Richard Hickox 
City of London Sinfonia
Chandos
St Endellion Festivals
Lasting Tribute
 
Philip Langridge’s eulogy  
The celebrated tenor Philip Langridge, a close friend of Richard Hickox, gave this moving eulogy at St Paul’s Cathedral for the Service of Thanksgiving on 12 March, 2009. 
 
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 friendto 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.