Monday, November 25, 2019

Colin Mawby 1936-2019, Requiescat in pace

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Colin Mawby, Catholic composer and a Patron of the Latin Mass Society, has died aged 83.

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He was a great supporter of Gregorian Chant, and took an enthusiastic part in several chant training events the Latin Mass Society organised. The above two photographs are from 2016, below I found one from 2012. His enthusiasm was infectious and his knowledge and practical experience enormous. As Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral over the time of the liturgical reform, he was responsible at that crucial moment for the Cathedral's musical tradition not being jettisoned like so much else.



He told us that he had first learnt the Te Deum as a choir boy at Westminster Cathedral to sing at the formal arrival of Cardinal Griffin in 1946: he would have been 10, so this makes perfect sense. We were fortunate to have such a vibrant connection with the old days.

He was kind enough in 2012 to compose for the Latin Mass Society a setting of the Song of the Papal Zouaves, which we have in our Vademecum Peregrini and sing on the road to Walsingham. The words were recorded from 1861, but not the music.

We will not forget him.

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