Simon Preston (born 4 August 1938, Bournemouth,
England)
is an English
organist,
conductor,
and composer.
Originally a chorister at King's College, Cambridge,
he studied the organ with C. H. Trevor before returning to King's
as organ
scholar. He was sub-organist of Westminster
Abbey from 1962-67, and organist of Christ
Church, Oxford from 1970 before returning to Westminster as Organist
and Master of the Choristers in 1981. He relinquished his Westminster
post in 1987, and has since led an international concert career, and
has also composed works for the organ, the best-known of which is
probably his "Alleluyas", written in the style of Olivier
Messiaen.
His playing, always very clean and precise, has mellowed from
the fiery and incisive style of his younger days, to the more sedate
and comfortable now, though always with mastery of the instrument and
the work in question. He has many recordings to his credit, including
the complete works of J. S. Bach and the Saint-Saëns
Organ Symphony, with James
Levine conducting the Berlin Philharmonic
Orchestra, both for Deutsche Grammophon, He has
played harpsichord
(particularly earlier in his career), including on a recording of the Concert
Champêtre, as well as organ. He has recorded Handel's complete
organ concertos twice: with Yehudi Menuhin conducting
the Bath Festival Orchestra and
later on historical instruments with Trevor
Pinnock directing The English Concert.
External link
| Cultural
offices |
Preceded by
Douglas Guest |
Organist and Master of the
Choristers of Westminster Abbey
1981–1988 |
Succeeded by
Martin Neary |