Nunc Dimittis

Nunc Dimittis

G. Maurice Hinson died November 11, 2015. He was 84. Hinson served as professor of piano at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1957 to 2015, and as organist-choirmaster at churches in Florida, Michigan, and Kentucky from 1943 to 1980, including the First Baptist Church in Gainesville, Florida (starting at the age of 14) and concluding at Calvin Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1944–80. He earned a BA degree from the University of Florida and MM and DMA degrees from the University of Michigan; he also studied at the Juilliard School and the Conservatoire National in Nancy, France. The author of 14 books (most published by Indiana University Press) and over 100 articles, he is perhaps best known for his Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire. He edited more than 300 editions of classical piano music and recorded five DVDs of piano works. A specialist in American piano music, some of his most recent articles appeared in the New Grove Dictionary of American Music. 

Hinson’s many awards in piano pedagogy and performance include the Liszt Commemorative Medal by the Hungarian government, and the American Liszt Society’s Medal of Excellence for his research on the music of Franz Liszt. He was the founding editor of the Journal of the American Liszt Society, and served as editor of the American Music Teacher, and contributing editor of The Piano Quarterly and Piano and Keybord. Hinson also served as dean of the Louisville (Kentucky) chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

G. Maurice Hinson is survived by his wife of 64 years, Margaret Hinson, daughter Susan Elizabeth Jordan, grandchildren Kendel, Lindsey, and Michelle Enoch, and Ross Jordan.  

René Saorgin, French organist, recording artist, and organ historian, died December 17 at the age of 87 in Nice. Born in 1928 in Cannes, he began his studies at the Nice Conservatoire. At the Paris Conservatoire he was a pupil of Maurice Duruflé and Noël Gallon for composition and took organ lessons from Gaston Litaize. He also studied organ with Fernando Germani. From 1954 to 1996 he was professor of organ at the National Regional Conservatoire in Nice. He served as titular organist at the Church of St. Jean Baptiste, Nice, from 1954 to 1984, and at the Cathedral of the Principality of Monaco from 1984 to 2005. He was a founder in 1962 of the Académie de St. Maximin. Saorgin’s work helped fuel a revival of interest and appreciation of historic French and Italian organs. His efforts facilitated the rediscovery of many instruments. Saorgin’s extensive discography includes more than 20 recordings on the Harmonia Mundi label, including the complete works of Dieterich Buxtehude, as well as recordings of selected works of J. S. Bach and Georg Muffat.

Robert Schuneman, music publishing executive and long-time owner of ECS Music Publishing, died on December 4, 2015, in Wayland, Massachusetts. He was 81. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Arlington, Virginia, he was trained in music theory, composition, organ, piano, harpsichord, vocal music, and choral and instrumental conducting. He studied at State Conservatory of Music and University of Freiburg in Breisgau, Germany, Valparaiso University (MusB, 1956), Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, and Stanford University (MA, musicology, 1958).

Schuneman’s extensive career included working with narcotics addicts in Brooklyn; serving as a church musician in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Glens Falls, New York; Chicago, Illinois; and Boston, Massachusetts; choral and orchestral conductor in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and teaching at Oberlin Conservatory, Boston Conservatory of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, and Westminster Choir College. Schuneman also served as editor for The Diapason from 1970 to 1976.

In 1985 Schuneman and his wife Cynthia purchased E. C. Schirmer Music Company, where he had worked as a part-time editor. He became president of the parent company ECS Publishing Company, and in that role oversaw the publications associated with E. C. Schirmer Music Company, Galaxy Music Corporation, Ione Press, and Highgate Press. In 1995 Schuneman began Arsis Audio and went on to master and produce over two hundred recordings. He also served as conductor of the Philovox Ensemble of Boston.

As a music executive and conductor, Schuneman and his wife Cynthia traveled broadly, enjoyed time with their family, and also made time for Robert’s great enthusiasm for watching and playing soccer. He was active in a large number of professional music organizations including the Music Publishing Association of the United States, and was particularly active in the work of the American Guild of Organists, the American Choral Directors Association, and Chorus America. 

Robert Schuneman was preceded in death by his wife Cynthia in 2012. He sold ECS Publishing Corporation in 2013 and spent the last years of his life writing, conducting, traveling, and spending time with family, all the while keeping up an active schedule of playing soccer.

Nunc Dimittis

Ronald Kent Arnatt, 88, died August 23, 2018. He was born January 16, 1930, in London, England, and was a boy chorister at Westminster Abbey and King’s College, Cambridge. He was educated at Trent College, Derbyshire, Trinity College of Music, London, and Durham University. From the latter, he was granted a Bachelor of Music degree in 1954. In 1970, Arnatt was awarded a Doctor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey.

Over the course of his career he held numerous positions, including instructor, American University, Washington, D.C.; director of music, Mary Institute, St. Louis, Missouri; professor of music and director choral activities, University of Missouri, St. Louis; director of music and organist, Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis; founder and conductor, St. Louis Chamber Orchestra and Chorus; conductor and music director, Bach Society of St. Louis; director of music and organist, Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts; president, American Guild of Organists; director of music and organist, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Beverly, Massachusetts; professor of church music and department head, Westminster Choir College; and editor, ECS Publishing, Boston. He was also the recipient of numerous awards, fellowships, and prizes.

Ronald Arnatt married Carol Freeman Woodward, who died in 2017. They had two daughters who survive, Ronlyn and Sylvia. He is also survived by nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Jon L. Bertschinger, 65, died July 13, 2018, in St. Joseph, Missouri. He was born July 25, 1952, in Burlington, Iowa. Bertschinger began taking piano lessons at an early age, followed by organ lessons on the new M. P. Möller organ at his church, Messiah Lutheran Church, in Burlington, in 1958. He sang in and accompanied one of the five choirs at that church while in junior high school.

Bertschinger began work for the Temple Organ Company when it moved to Burlington in 1966, helping to install the rebuilt organ at First Methodist Church in 1967. He was still working with David Cool, son of the company’s founder, Fred Cool, when the church burned in 2007, and he accomplished the tonal finishing for the new 60-rank organ for the rebuilt church.

Bertschinger was on the volunteer staff for the Auditorium and Temple in Independence, Missouri, performing recitals under the direction of Jan Kraybill, former director of music for the Community of Christ Church. He also had regular church jobs in St. Joseph, sometimes two at a time, playing over the years at Westminster Presbyterian, Trinity Presbyterian, First Christian, and, up until his death, Brookdale Presbyterian.

Wesley Coleman Dudley, II, 85, of Williamsburg, Virginia, and Bar Harbor, Maine, died July 25 in Williamsburg. He was born in Buffalo, New York, December 15, 1932. He attended Nichols School and graduated from St. Paul’s School, Concord, New Hampshire, before receiving his bachelor’s degree from Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. After two years in the United States Navy in Hawaii, he returned to Buffalo in 1958 to work at Worthington Pump Company. Six years later he became an entrepreneur, managing Auto Wheel Coaster Company, North Tonawanda, New York, before joining his family’s management office. He began spending winters in Williamsburg, Virginia, and summers in Bar Harbor, Maine, allowing him to explore his two dominant passions: pipe organs and boating.

A quiet philanthropist, he supported many projects anonymously, but there was one exception, the public radio program, Pipedreams. He was also a frequent donor to the Organ Historical Society.

Wesley C. Dudley was preceded in death by his daughter, Katherine Mary Dudley. He is survived by his wife of sixty-two years, Lucinda Nash Dudley, and his children, Nanette (David) Schoeder, Donald M. (Janet) Dudley, three grandchildren, Nicholas Schoeder, Katherine Dudley, and MacLaren Dudley, their mother Meg Dudley, and two step-grandchildren, Grace and Madeleine Waters. Memorial contributions may be made to Minnesota Public Radio, attn. Jamie Ziemann, 480 Cedar St., St. Paul, Minnesota 55101, or to the Dudley Scholarship at the Eastman School of Music, attn. Suzanne Stover, 26 Gibbs St., Rochester, New York 14604.

Steven E. Lawson, 63, of New York, New York, died suddenly, August 19, of natural causes. He had completed his usual Saturday evening practice at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, where he had served as assisting organist for 21 years, and failed to show up on Sunday morning.

Lawson was born September 9, 1954, in San Diego, California, attended elementary school in Fullerton, California, and high school in Topeka, Kansas. He earned the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance at Oklahoma City University, where he studied with Wilma Jensen, and the Master of Music degree in organ performance at Indiana University, also studying with Wilma Jensen. At Indiana University, he minored in carillon performance and accompanied the University Singers, working with conductors Robert Shaw and Margaret Hills. Before his appointment at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, Lawson served St. Luke’s Lutheran Church near Times Square in New York City for ten years.

As an active member of the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, Lawson served as registrar, webmaster, and editor of the chapter’s concert calendar, but his towering achievement was the New York City Organ Project (NYCOP). Starting with his interest in gathering the histories of various pipe organs in churches he served or played in, the NYCOP grew into a seemingly limitless body of information, published online as part of the website of the New York City AGO Chapter. Thousands of organs are diligently documented with histories, specifications, and photographs. (For example, see the documentation of organs at the Church of the Heavenly Rest: www.nycago.org/organs/nyc/html/HeavenlyRest.html.) Friends and colleagues have joked that no one knew the organs of New York City as well as Lawson, given the countless hours he traveled around the city carrying heavy photographic equipment.

Lawson’s passion for collecting and making available this type of information drew him to the Organ Historical Society’s Pipe Organ Database, where he continued his vast contribution to the art of the organ, expanding his boundaries from New York City to include the entire United States. He worked closely with the OHS Database Committee, contributing and updating countless entries of organs, and behind the scenes with the development of a new, more user-friendly version of the database.

Steven E. Lawson is survived by his parents, George W. Lawson and Doris E. Lawson, and his cousin Linda Driskel.

­—John Bishop

Frank G. Rippl, 71, died August 11, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Born in Neenah, Wisconsin, Rippl earned the Bachelor of Music Education degree from Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Appleton, where he minored in organ, studying with Miriam Clapp Duncan. He received a Master of Music degree in Orff-Schulwerk from the University of Denver. Rippl also studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music, as well as the Royal School of Church Music in England.

In 1979 he co-founded the Appleton Boychoir, for which he conducted and played organ for 26 years until his retirement from the organization in 2010. He initiated the Boychoir’s popular Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols held each Christmas in Memorial Chapel, Lawrence University. During Rippl’s tenure, the choir performed as choir-in-residence at the Green Lake Festival of Music under Sir David Willcocks and toured nationally and internationally.

Rippl taught elementary vocal music in the Appleton Area School District for 33 years. Upon retirement from school teaching, he pursued additional organ study with Wolfgang Rübsam. In 1996 he founded the Lunchtime Organ Recital Series held each summer in the Appleton area, attracting organists from all over the country.

Rippl began playing the organ at St. Mary Catholic Church, Menasha, later at Saint Bernard Catholic Church, also of Menasha. He was organist and choirmaster of All Saints Episcopal Church, Appleton, for over 46 years (1971–2018), retiring January 7. At his retirement, the parish established a choral scholarship for Lawrence University students to sing in the church’s choir. (For information on Frank Rippl’s retirement celebration, see the April 2018 issue, page 8.)

Rippl served as dean of the Northeastern Wisconsin Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, was active in the Organ Historical Society (OHS) and the Packerland Theatre Organ Society, and performed on Minnesota Public Radio’s Pipedreams. He penned numerous OHS convention reviews for The Diapason. He accompanied silent movies on the organ for over 20 years for the American Theatre Organ Society. He loved teaching and the pipe organ, and combined these two passions by giving organ lessons to many students.

In 2007, Rippl received the Rotary Club Paul Harris Service Award for service to the community; he played for the Appleton chapter’s weekly meetings for many years. While a student at Lawrence he was Vince Lombardi’s favorite pianist at Alex’s Crown Restaurant, as cited in David Moraniss’s When Pride Still Mattered. In 2014 he became director for the new Memory Project choir, “On a Positive Note,” for those suffering from memory loss and their families.

Frank Rippl is survived by his wife of 43 years, Carol Jegen, his brothers Bill Rippl, Rick (Marie) Rippl, and Dan (Becky) Rippl, as well as numerous extended family members. His funeral was held August 21 at All Saints Episcopal Church, Appleton. Memorial donations may be directed to All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Appleton, the Appleton Boychoir, or his family for an organ scholarship.

James Ralph Verdin, of Indian Hill, Ohio, died August 8. He was born July 30, 1936, in Cincinnati. He grew up in Mariemont and graduated from Mariemont High School in 1955. After graduation, Verdin served in the United States Army.

Verdin was president and chief executive officer of the Verdin Company of Cincinnati, a family-owned business since 1842 that installs bells, tower and street clocks, electronic carillons, and organs across the United States and abroad. Notable installations include the World Peace Bell, the Ohio Bicentennial Bell Project, and the Verdin Mobile Bell Foundry.

Verdin’s vision to redevelop and transform the Pendleton Neighborhood in Over the Rhine, Cincinnati, led to the founding of the Pendleton Art Center, Pendleton Square Complex, the old Car Barn (Nicola’s Restorante), and the restoration of St. Paul’s Church. The church became the corporate offices of the Verdin Company and is now the Bell Event Centre.

A funeral Mass was celebrated August 16 at Old St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Cincinnati. James Ralph Verdin is survived by his wife Carole (nee Conners), daughter Jill (Sam) Crew, and grandchildren Caroline Verdin Crew and Samantha Verdin Crew. Memorials may be made to Summit Country Day School, 2161 Grandin Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208.

Alan Curtis died unexpectedly on July 15 in Florence, Italy. He was 80 years old. 

His 1956–58 Fulbright Award brought him to Amsterdam, where he studied harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt. While working toward a master’s degree in musicology, Curtis unlocked the mysteries of the Louis Couperin unmeasured preludes. He also commissioned a split-key enharmonic harpsichord from Dowd and the first contemporary authentic chittarone from Warnock. He was known for his reconstructions of early operas, including a Rameau opera with period instruments and authentic choreography and a reconstruction of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. Curtis was a particular champion of Gluck’s Armide, leading three very different productions, including one with his own period-instrument orchestra.

The recent project Handel’s Bestiary presents illustrations by Michael Sowa that accompany twelve arias by Handel about twelve different animals, recorded for the occasion by Curtis’s orchestra Il Complesso Barocco and four soloists. At the time of his death he was working to recreate the Italian recitatives for Cherubini’s Medea and preparing the Australian debut of a Handel pasticcio, Voyage to the Moon.

Alan Curtis is survived by his partner of the last 25 years, lutenist Pier Luigi Ciapparelli; his ex-wife Jennifer Curtis, daughters Julia Curtis and Daria Wrubel, and grandchildren Cornelia Curtis and Zachary Wrubel.

Helen Hubbert Kemp, noted children’s choir director, died August 23 at the age of 97. Born in 1918, she worked for almost 80 years as a singer, teacher, choir director, clinician, and composer. Kemp attended Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey, where she met her husband John S. C. Kemp. Helen and her late husband John served as founding members and leaders of Choristers Guild, the international organization for children’s choirs. The Kemps served two tenures on the faculty of Westminster Choir College and held church positions in several states, including one at First Presbyterian Church, Oklahoma City, where they spent 20 years developing a noted church music program. Upon her retirement from Westminster Choir College, Kemp was named Professor Emerita of Voice and Church Music and received honorary doctorates from Westminster Choir College and Shenandoah University. In 2003, she was awarded The Elaine Brown Award for Choral Excellence from the Pennsylvania ACDA, and a lifetime membership award from the Presbyterian Association of Musicians.

Helen Kemp was the subject of a documentary video, A Helen Kemp Portrait (Choristers Guild). Her books and prepared instructional materials have become standard resources, and church choir directors around the world use her text, Of Primary Importance, and its Volume II sequel. Her choral compositions for children are widely performed. She was also the subject of a doctoral dissertation by Christine Farrier entitled “Body, Mind, Spirit, Voice: Helen Kemp and the Development of the Children’s Choir Movement” (University of North Carolina, Greensboro, 1992).

Helen Hubbert Kemp is survived by her children, Julia Kemp Rothfuss (Guy), John Matthew Kemp (Mary), Michael E. Kemp (Janet), Peggy Kemp Henry, and Kathy Kemp Ridl (Jim), along with grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and nieces, nephews, and cousins.

John Scott, organist and director of music at St. Thomas Church in New York City, died suddenly on August 12. He was 59. Having returned to New York on August 11 after a European tour, he was not feeling well the next morning and suffered a sudden cardiac episode from which he never regained consciousness. His wife, Lily, was by his side when he died. John and Lily were expecting their first child, a son who was born September 4.

A graduate of St. John’s College, Cambridge, John Scott was appointed organist and director of music of St. Thomas Church and Choir School in 2004, having previously served at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London for 26 years. In addition to his wife, Lily, he is survived by three children, Emma, Alex and a newborn son, and two sisters, Judith and Helen.

See John Bishop’s column on page 22 of this issue for further remembrances of John Scott.

Nunc Dimittis

Wilbur R. Dodge, 83, died November 20, 2017, in Binghamton, New York, an engineer, physicist, professional photographer, English country dancer, organist, organbuilder, and organ technician. He graduated from Clarkson University and Harpur College (now Binghamton University) with degrees in electrical engineering and physics and followed in his father’s footsteps working at Ansco Film Company.  With Norman Smith, he started their company, R D & D before he moved on to Link Aviation where he worked on simulators for the Gemini and Apollo missions.

Dodge was a member of the choir and guest organist for various churches in the community including Trinity Memorial and Christ Churches. He also maintained and tuned pipe organs in churches throughout the region. He was dean of the Binghamton Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, 1999–2001. 

Wilbur R. Dodge is survived by his partner, Anneliese Heurich; children: Glenn Burch (Bellefonte, Pennsylvania), Michael and Tammy Burch (Deland, Florida), Barbara Burch (Paisley, Florida), and Laura Appleton (Binghamton); several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A memorial service was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Binghamton on January 20.

Mark Coan Jones died December 24, 2017. Born February 25, 1957, in Asheville, North Carolina, he studied organ with Marilyn Keiser and with Donna Robertson at nearby Mars Hill College. For the past 22 years, Jones was director of music and organist for The Pink Church (First Presbyterian Church), Pompano Beach, Florida. He previously served St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, Pompano Beach; First Presbyterian Church, Newton, North Carolina; and Trinity Episcopal Church, Asheville.

Jones appeared with the Florida Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Lynn University Conservatory Orchestra, Young Artists Chamber Orchestra, Palm Beach Atlantic Symphony, and Miami Bach Society, and in collaborations with chamber groups and area choruses, including the Nova Singers, Florida Philharmonic Chorus, Master Chorale of South Florida, Masterworks Chorus of the Palm Beaches, Fort Lauderdale Christian Chorale, and Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida. He arranged music for organ and brass and performed with the Dallas Brass, Avatar Brass, Empire Brass, Lynn Conservatory Brass, and Eastman Brass. He performed extensively across Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia, in collaborations and solo recitals. 

Jones’s organ compositions have been performed in venues across the United States and in Europe, and have been broadcast nationally. His Three Lenten Hymn Meditations, Trumpet Tune in D, and Lenten Hymntunes have been recorded and performed by various organists.

From 2006 through 2014, Mark was principal accompanist for the von Trapp Children, the great-grandchildren of the singing family made famous by the Rodgers & Hammerstein movie The Sound of Music. His solo appearances and concerts with the von Trapps included performances around the world.

Mark Coan Jones is survived by his parents Hubert Mack and Shirley Williams Jones of Asheville, his sister Suzanne Jones Hamel and husband Richard Anson Hamel of Covington, Kentucky, and his partner Hilarion (Kiko) Suarez Moreno of Deerfield Beach, Florida.

Yuko Hayashi died January 7 in Salem, New Hampshire, at the age of 88. She was born in Hiratsuka, Japan, on November 2, 1929. For more than 40 years she was professor of organ at the New England Conservatory and department chair for 30 years. As a performer, she concertized extensively on three continents—Asia, North America, and Europe—giving recitals and masterclasses in Japan, South Korea, the United States, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. She was the recipient of the coveted Arion Award from the Cambridge Society for Early Music as an “outstanding performer and master teacher of the historical organ.” She was also awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from the New England Conservatory.

Hayashi graduated with a degree in organ performance from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1948 and for five years was organist for the symphony orchestra of NHK, the Japanese national broadcasting company. She came to the United States in 1953 on scholarship, sponsored by Philanthropic Educational Organization and studied for one year at Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri. She then transferred to the New England Conservatory in Boston where she was awarded three degrees in organ performance: Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Artist Diploma. In 1960 she began teaching at the conservatory and was appointed chair of the department in 1969 by then president Gunther Schuller. Her primary teachers were George Faxon, Donald Willing, Anton Heiller, and Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord).

Her frequent travels to Europe began in 1966 when she went to the Haarlem Organ Academy in the Netherlands and began life-long associations with Anton Heiller, Luigi Tagliavini, and Marie-Claire Alain. In 1971, she studied with Michel Chapuis in France and was introduced to many historic organs in North Germany and Holland by Harald Vogel and Klaas Bolt. This was the beginning of many exchanges of concerts and masterclasses across the Atlantic Ocean between Boston and Europe. It was during this time that Hayashi became organist of Old West Church in Boston, performing on a new mechanical-action organ built by Charles B. Fisk. She served as organist there for nearly 40 years and was the founder and executive director of the Old West Organ Society until her retirement in 2010.

Beginning in 1970, Hayashi crossed the Pacific Ocean yearly to give recitals and masterclasses in Japan. With Italian organist Umberto Pineschi and the assistance of Japanese organ builder Hiroshi Tsuji and his wife Toshiko Tsuji, she founded the Italian Organ Academy in Shirakawa. She was influential in persuading organ committees from universities, churches, and concert halls to commission mechanical-action organs from organbuilders from around the world. Most noteworthy are the instruments for International Christian University (Rieger), Toyota City Concert Hall (Brombaugh), Minato Mirai Concert Hall, Yokohama (C. B. Fisk, Inc.), and Ferris University, Yokohama (Taylor & Boody, Noack Organ Company, and J. F. Nordlie Pipe Organ Company organs).

In 1989, Yuko Hayashi took a leave of absence from the New England Conservatory to accept a position as professor of organ at Ferris University, Yokohama. She taught there for six years before returning to Boston. She also became titular organist at St. Luke’s International Hospital Chapel, which houses an organ built by Marc Garnier of France. She was responsible for relocating a historic 1889 organ built by Hook & Hastings to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral in Yokohama where her father served as priest for many years.

Yuko Hayashi is survived by two brothers, Makoto Hayashi and Satoru Hayashi, and several nieces and nephews, all residing in Japan. A memorial service for Yuko Hayashi will be held at Christ Church, Andover, Massachusetts, April 28, at 11:00 a.m. Memorial contributions may be directed to: Old West Organ Society, c/o Jeffrey Mead, Treasurer, 72 Trenton Street, Melrose, Massachusetts 02176;  St. Andrew’s Cathedral, 14-57 Mitsuzawa-shimo-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa, 221-0852, Japan; or St. Luke’s International Hospital Chapel, c/o Organ Committee, 9-1 Akashi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 140-8560, Japan.

Pierre Pincemaille, 61, died, January 12, an international concert organist, church organist, music professor, and composer. Born in Paris, France, December 8, 1956, Pincemaille was awarded five first prizes at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (harmony, counterpoint, fugue, organ interpretation, and organ improvisation) and won five international improvisation competitions: Lyon (1978), Beauvais (1987), Strasbourg (1989), Montbrison (1989), and Chartres (1990).

In 1987, Pierre Pincemaille was appointed titular organist of the prestigious 1841 Cavaillé-Coll at the Gothic Saint-Denis Cathedral-Basilica. He loved accompanying beautiful liturgy there, amidst the tombs of the Kings of France. Highly inspired by Pierre Cochereau, Pincemaille founded a concert series there, from 1989 to 1994. For his 30th anniversary there, he performed his last concert on November 5, 2017, programming choral works he cherished, conducted by Pierre Calmelet: Louis Vierne’s Messe Solennelle and three of his own recently composed vocal motets (to be published), as well as J. S.
Bach’s Pièce d’Orgue, BWV 572, symbolizing for him the three periods of life.

Pierre Pincemaille also performed with orchestras under the direction of conductors such as Mstislav Rostropovitch, Myung-Whun Chung, Riccardo Muti, Charles Dutoit, and John Nelson. His recordings include the complete organ works of Maurice Duruflé and César Franck, Charles-Marie Widor’s ten symphonies, selected pieces by Jehan Alain, Pierre Cochereau, Olivier Messiaen, and Louis Vierne, his own improvisations and transcriptions of Stravinsky’s The Firebird and Petrushka, as well as works with orchestra by Camille Saint-Saëns, Hector Berlioz, Joseph Jongen, and Aaron Copland. Several of Pierre Pincemaille’s compositions were published: Prologue et Noël varié [Prologue and Variations on a Noel] (Sampzon, Delatour France, 2007), a 4-voice a cappella Ave Maria (Lyon, À Coeur Joie, 2013), and En Louisiane for trombone and piano (Delatour France, 2017).

Recently, Pierre Pincemaille taught counterpoint at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, harmony at the Conservatory in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and organ improvisation at the Conservatory in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés for the past 17 years. For the past 14 years, he formed a generation of French and foreign organ improvisers, many who have won prizes in international competitions: among them, six Parisian organists: David Cassan (at the Oratoire du Louvre), Thomas Lacôte (La Trinité), Samuel Liégeon (St.-Pierre-du-Chaillot), Hampus Lindwall (St.-Esprit), Baptiste-Florian Marle-Ouvrard (St.-Eustache), and Olivier Périn (St.-Paul-St.-Louis).

Among his honors and distinctions, Pierre Pincemaille was a Knight in the following three orders: the Academic Palms, Arts and Letters, and St. Gregory the Great. 

Pierre Pincemaille is survived by his wife, Anne-France, and their three children, Claire, Marc, and Éric.

—Carolyn Shuster Fournier, Paris, France

William C. Hain, Max Burdorf Miller, William “Bill” Brant Mills, David D. Sly 

William C. Hain, 89 years old, died on December 29, 2012 in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. Born January 13, 1923 in Pittsburgh, he worked for the Samuel Bowman Organ Company before serving in the Army during World War II. He returned in 1944, and continued his work with the Bowman Company. In 1950, he and Joseph Kibler started Organcraft, which they continued together until Kibler’s retirement in 1977. They both served as sales and service representatives for Casavant Organs during the 1950s and ’60s. Hain’s son William joined Organcraft in 1977, at which time both were appointed as service representatives for the Austin Organ Company. 

Hain continued working with his son until age 85; he had worked on most of the organs in the Pittsburgh area. Known for his expertise as well as his kind and gentle nature, William Hain dedicated his life to the pipe organ profession, even playing the organ for residents at his retirement home. Predeceased in 2012 by his wife, Anna Marie, William C. Hain is survived by his son, William C. Hain II, his daughter, Patricia Ann Witt, six grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

—Edgar Highberger

Max Burdorf Miller, age 85, died January 5 in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Born in 1927, Miller began his study of the organ in his native California; while studying Arnold Schoenberg’s Variations on a Recitative, he received coaching from the composer. He and his wife Betty lived in Vienna for several years in the 1950s, while Max studied with Anton Heiller. Miller received his Ph.D. from Boston University, and was a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists; for many years he wrote the “Ask Uncle Max” column for The American Organist. 

Miller served on the faculties of the School of Music and the School of Theology at Boston University for 42 years until his retirement in 1991. He was simultaneously university organist, director of music at Marsh Chapel, director of the Master of Sacred Music program, conductor of the Seminary Singers (which he took on tour every year), and professor of organ in the School of Music. In 1983 he composed the tune Marsh Chapel for use with the text “Awake, O sleeper, rise from death.” 

Miller was the guiding spirit in the founding of The Organ Library, located in the Boston University School of Theology; it has grown to be one of the largest collections of organ music in the world, accessible though a searchable database. The Organ Library awards the biennial Max B. Miller prize to outstanding books devoted to organ literature and performance. Max Burdorf Miller is survived by his wife of 52 years, Elizabeth (Hyde) Miller, three sons, and five grandchildren. Contributions in memory of Dr. Max B. Miller may be made to the Organ Library in the School of Theology at Boston University, 745 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215.

William “Bill” Brant Mills, 68, died February 18, 2012, in Florence, South Carolina. He earned a BMus degree in organ from Florida State University, and MMus in organ from the University of South Carolina, and did postgraduate work at Indiana, Southern Methodist, and Stanford universities, and Columbia College. Mills was a diaconal minister in the United Methodist church and director of music-organist at Central United Methodist Church in Florence, South Carolina for more than 42 years. A well-known pianist and accompanist, he was founder and director of the Masterworks Choir in Florence in 1979; in 1995, the choir, along with the Central United Methodist Church Choir, toured Austria and Germany; they also participated in the Festival of Churches programs as part of the Piccolo Spoleto festival. The Masterworks Choir was selected to sing choral works of Robert Powell upon Powell’s retirement. William “Bill” Brant Mills is survived by a son, a daughter, and four grandchildren.

David D. Sly died October 20, 2012. He was 64 years old. Born in Saginaw, Michigan, he earned his BMusEd degree from Olivet College, and a master’s and doctorate in counseling from Michigan State University. Sly was organist and directed the chancel choir at Marshall United Methodist Church for more than 35 years, and directed many high school and community theater musicals. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Marshall Civic Theatre and an Outstanding Alumnus Award from Olivet College; he served twice as dean of the Southwest Michigan AGO chapter. David D. Sly is survived by his sisters, five nephews, and eight grand nieces and nephews.

Nunc Dimittis

Joseph Peter Fitzer, born February 6, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois, died July 21. In 1970, he received a doctorate degree from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, with concurrent study at the School of Music of De Paul University, also in Chicago. He authored two books on nineteenth-century Catholic thinkers, particularly Johann Adam Moehler, as well as numerous articles for The Diapason and The American Organist magazines. He served on the faculty of St. John’s University, New York, from 1970 until 1988, teaching philosophy of religion and modern church history, and also as organist and choirmaster of churches in New York, North Amherst, Massachusetts, and Chicago. Fitzer was married to Susan Pollack Fitzer (died 2012), to Mary Molina Fitzer (died 2005), and to Mary Gifford. Joseph Fitzer is survived by his wife, Mary Gifford, his son, Paul Fitzer, and two granddaughters, Katherine and Elizabeth Fitzer.

Michael D. Friesen, 63, died June 19 in Denver, Colorado. He was born August 12, 1953, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he attended local schools. He attended Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana, graduating in 1975 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing degree. In 1977, he earned the master’s degree in international business from the University of South Carolina. As part of his degree work, he interned with Air France in Paris, using his weekends to visit the great organs of Europe by train. He later attended Roosevelt University, Chicago, Illinois, where he earned a master’s degree in public administration around 1991. In 2001, he completed a master’s degree in American history at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb.

After working in international marketing with the Addressograph Multigraph Corporation, Friesen began a career as a civic administrator. After developing an award-winning recycling program for the Village of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, he served as assistant village manager for Algonquin, Illinois, and village manager for Lakewood, Illinois, and later, Meade, Colorado. 

Michael Friesen was married to Susan Werner Friesen from 1978 until 2001. They have one daughter, Elizabeth Ann.

Friesen had a life-long love of the pipe organ, beginning with organ lessons from his mother, Evelyn Friesen. He continued his organ studies while at Valparaiso University. He had developed his own master list of organbuilders by the late 1970s, compiled from The Diapason, The American Organist, and The Tracker, a list from which he planned to visit every builder’s shop. During their honeymoon, the Friesens visited three organbuilders’ shops, and each family vacation included a visit to at least one new builder.

Michael attended his first Organ Historical Society convention with Susan in 1980, in the Finger Lakes region of New York. They were charter members of the Chicago-Midwest Chapter of the OHS, establishing the chapter’s journal, The Stopt Diapason, for which they were the first editors and publishers. Friesen’s extensive research on the history of Chicago pipe organs in the 19th and 20th centuries was and remains highly respected; issues of The Stopt Diapason are archived at the chapter’s website and are still regularly used by researchers in their work today. When the OHS held its first convention in Chicago in 1984, most of the research for the convention handbook was carried out by Michael Friesen. He was a frequent contributor of articles to The Diapason, The American Organist, and The Tracker, as well as articles on pipe organ history for the journals of the Denver Historical Society and the Colorado Historical Society. He served as consultant for new mechanical-action organ projects, as well as relocation and restoration projects for historic pipe organs. He was active in projects commissioning new music compositions, especially “Introit Psalm and Alleluia Verse,” composed by Richard Wienhorst for the Friesens’ wedding, published by Chantry Press. He was dean of the Denver Chapter of the American Guild of Organists from 2010 to 2011.

Michael Friesen is survived by his former wife, Susan Werner Friesen, his daughter, Elizabeth Ann Roscoe (Avery), three grandchildren (Matthew, Julia, and Benjamin), his mother, Evelyn Friesen, two sisters, Sandra Henson (David) and Janice Kuske (Kevin), one brother, Douglas Friesen (Anna-Marie), five nephews and three nieces, three great nieces and three great nephews. A memorial service was held June 24 at St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Cathedral, Denver, Colorado.

Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, an Italian organist, harpsichordist, musicologist, teacher, and composer, died July 11 in Bologna, Italy. He was born October 7, 1929, in Bologna. He studied, organ, piano, and composition at the conservatory in Bologna, and later studied organ with Marcel Dupré at the conservatory in Paris, France. He graduated from the university at Padua in 1951. He taught at universities and conservatories in Bologna, Bolzano, and Parma in Italy and Freiburg in Switzerland. He was a guest instructor at various universities in the United States, including Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. He regularly taught organ courses at Haarlem, the Netherlands, and at Pistoia, Italy. He served as organist of the Basilica of San Petronio, Bologna, sharing duties with Liuwe Tamminga. With Renato Lunelli, he founded the journal L’organo in 1960. An active performer, he presented recitals throughout Europe and the United States. Tagliavini was a recognized authority in historical performance practice for the Baroque organ and harpsichord, and was a strong supporter of the historic organ movement in Italy. He was a prolific recording artist, earning several awards for his LP and CD discs. He was awarded several honorary degrees, including a doctorate in music from the University of Edinburgh and a doctorate in sacred music from the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome. As a musicologist, he published numerous papers and edited critical editions of music.

A look at the life and contributions of Luigi Tagliavini is planned for a future issue of The Diapason. Also, see comments on Tagliavini’s work at Southern Methodist University in Larry Palmer’s “Harpsichord News” in this issue.