Michael James Gordon, MA, Mus B. (Cantab), ARCO, FRSCM
16 March 1928 – 22 September 2020
On Palm Sunday 1976 – yes, I know that was 44 years ago – I was blown away by the most incredible sung narration of the Passion of our Lord at the Cathedral, an experience that was repeated on Good Friday that year – and then for many years thereafter. I had recently joined the Cathedral choir while pursuing post-graduate studies at Wits. The choir used to present the Passion according to St Matthew on Palm Sunday and according to St John on Good Friday each year. A tenor soloist provided the narrative, while another tenor soloist and a bass acted out the parts of Pilate and Jesus, while the rest of us in the choir took care of all the crowd’s utterances. That tenor was Jimmy Gordon and that March 1976 meeting caused our paths to become intertwined for 44 years. In 2008, at the age of 80, Jimmy accepted my invitation to sing on Palm Sunday in our Cathedral again and it was perfection.
As a singer, Jimmy was without equal. His voice had an extraordinary range. He could sing alto, tenor or bass with equal aplomb. He told me that he won his choral scholarship to King’s, Cambridge as a tenor because they needed a tenor, even though he was more suited as a baritone. To get into the top church choir in the world singing a voice part that was not necessarily his preference shows just how talented he was. Incidentally, he sang at two coronations: George VI in 1937 and Elizabeth II in 1953, and at the latter he sang Alto because “that is what was needed”.
Jimmy was a Special Commissioner of the RSCM in South Africa. I remember him taking a parts practice in 1979 at a massed choir festival for the RSCM in the City Hall, teaching tenors and basses their notes. Then, while all we men ran through what he had taught us, he himself simply added the alto line above us, and later the soprano part for good measure. In 1987, our freshly minted Rector at the time, Brian Germond, accepted the resignation of the organist who had engaged in some brinkmanship with the new Rector and the Churchwardens, and lost. St Martin’s was suddenly without an organist and Christmas was upon us. As I had been playing for the early services at 6.45 am and 8.00 a.m. for some 10 years by then, Brian asked me for ideas. That is when I suggested Jimmy who, I knew, had returned from Hilton after a brief stay in Natal – and for 30 years he took charge of music here. Susan has already spoken about the ethos he developed so I shall not say more. For me personally, he was the most valuable musical sounding board in church and organ music that I have ever had. Let me tell you, down in the CBD of Johannesburg at the Cathedral, it can be culturally decidedly lonely! Having Jimmy to talk to about the organ and choral music kept me sane.
Jimmy was someone who understood that the role of the church musician is to assist people in worship by presenting suitable music at all times, not just any old pieces but music connected to the readings and theme of the day, and performing it to the glory of God, not the performer. He was never flashy. Nuance characterised everything he did. I never heard him play too loud, his hymn playovers were crafted to set the mood for what was to follow, and his phrasing in all the singing he did as a cantor was just perfect. Who can forget the Exultet at Easter midnight Mass, or his singing of plainsong from time to time? As a superb example of a dedicated musician, nothing beats Jimmy’s singing of This is the Record of John which I recorded in 1979 and to which we shall listen later.
Jimmy had a great sense of humour and could recount some wonderful stories. For instance, he told us of his having organ lessons at the organ in the private chapel of the King in Windsor Castle with Sir William Harris. After one such lesson he and “Bill Harris” were leaving down a flight of stairs when, he said, a passage door opened and two girls ran out, chasing each other. The one in front ran straight into him, winding him. It was the current Queen who was horsing about with Princess Margaret.
Much later, when he was Assistant Organist of Eton College and Organist of Windsor Parish Church, he was practising one day when a man walked in and asked to try the organ. “Do you know how to play an organ?” asked Jimmy. “A little, I think,” replied the gentleman who then proceeded to improvise in an apparently expert fashion. As he left, he said to Jimmy, “Please tell your rector that Dr Howells sends his best wishes.” Jimmy would chortle at the thought of how he had almost prevented Britain’s leading composer of church music in the 20th century from trying out the organ in Windsor Parish Church.
Closer to home, this parish had a much-loved Rector who tended to use the word “share” rather a lot. “We will share in fellowship after the service, after I have shared the notices with you and you are invited to share in tea and coffee. We can also share in Evensong tonight…” and so on. From behind the organ, and just loud enough for the choir to hear, came the words, “The All Share Index has just hit a new high!”
Jimmy’s appreciation and love of music was not confined to the organ and church music. It was way wider. He had a vast library of chamber music. He used to watch televised opera on Sunday afternoons and then discuss the merits thereof with Tony LonmonDavis in the choir before Evensong. In the 1960’s, he directed the Wits Choir, a secular choir of students. For 20 years, he often appeared as a soloist with the St Stithian’s Singers and the Jhb Bach Choir.
He had a photographic memory coupled with instant recall. For fun, I sometimes would ask him what he thought of an obscure hymn tune that I would name. “Do you like Cuddeson?”, for example. Without hesitation, he would go to the piano and would play it. I recall saying how Margaret and I had enjoyed the JPO’s performance of the Beethoven piano concerto no. 4 in G. Jimmy promptly played the opening bars on the choir vestry piano.
If you go into the choir vestry here at St Martin’s, not only will you find a large library of a truly well-educated professional musician, but you will also discover countless scores, written out using fountain pen by Jimmy. As Susan mentioned, he arranged and harmonised worship songs using infinitely better musical language than that found in popular publications. He rearranged music to bring it within reach of our modest capabilities. He composed descants, at least one canticle that I know of, some anthems and various bits of liturgical music. Just three months ago, Dr James Ridley obtained Jimmy’s consent to type-set his music with a view to offering to the world via the internet. That work now takes on a more poignant but no less important meaning.
It was fitting that The Royal School of Church Music conferred a fellowship on Jimmy in 2012 at a service in Exeter Cathedral.
But it is as a friend that I shall miss Jimmy. We had a great time together. One of the things he and I used to do was to try to name whatever organ voluntaries the other had played. Only once did I manage to play something that he did not know. He, on the other hand, delighted in presenting me with gems that I never knew existed.
Johannesburg has been truly blessed by having such a superb musician of world calibre among us for so long. Yet Jimmy carried his greatness lightly and gave huge pleasure here at the tip of Africa to literally thousands. We musicians who worked with him or under his direction have been doubly privileged.
Sidney Place
2 October 2020
Michael James Gordon (1928-2020)
Born on 16 March 1928, son of F. Gordon, LDS, Ackworth Lodge, 1 Fowler’s Hill, Salisbury, Wiltshire.
St George’s School, Windsor Castle, under Headmaster James William Webb-Jones.
Sherborne School (Abbeylands) May 1942-July 1945: 6th form, House Prefect, PT Instructor, Corporal in JTC, member of Duffers.
Choral scholar, King’s College, Cambridge, MA, MusB, ARCO.