By George

Today I came across a beautiful Kyrie by the English composer George Malcolm, pictured above. It was sung by the Westminster Cathedral Choir. I am trying to find it.

While I was looking for it I found George Malcolm's obituary.

This is a very personal obituary. It includes the memorable line: "George Malcolm was a devout Catholic, and he never practised the homosexuality I am certain was part of his nature."

I wonder what made the writer so certain that he printed that! One thing I have learned in life is you cannot be sure that someone is homosexual. You can be totally sure, you swear it, your friends swear it, and then you find out you are wrong. That has happened to me many times.

Back to George Malcolm's obituary. Here is a tremendous paragraph:

At Balliol College, Oxford, Malcolm become famous as a roof climber, indeed notorious when he nicked a Christopher Wren-designed bauble from the roof of a rival college. Came the Second World War and he directed a RAF band, conducting a lot of light music and becoming a heavy drinker. In the 1940s, he fell from a second floor window, surviving with difficulty and facial surgery.

Also I see Andras Schiff...


.. left Hungary so he could study with George Malcolm. Wikipedia says so. What would we do without Wikipedia?

Darn, I cannot find that Kyrie! Well, here is George Malcolm playing Bach's Italian Concerto. It is better than nothing though the harpsichord sounds loud and jangly which, alas, harpsichords sometimes do. The recording process is not kind to them!

My search for the Kyrie continues.