I was a member of the choir from 1963 to 1972. Mr. Hewitt was an important formative influence on me and the other boys in our generation.
The music he created became very important in our young lives. It was a great experience for me to sing with the great soloists of that period --- Bill Bowen and Garth Hampson. There is some record of how the choir sounded over the period as the choir made two gramophone records (the second partly recorded in the foyer of the Supreme Court of Canada). Mr. Hewitt also always recorded our annual performance at the Government House Christmas party and many other performances. I hope the tapes are preserved somewhere.
We also did some modest touring around Ontario to churches in Hamilton, Arnprior and Kingston.
A highlight of my time in the choir was the series of performances of Benjamin Britten's "Noyes Fludde" on a stage built in the Cathedral chancery and produced by Nicholas Goldschmidt in 1967.
I also remember well the Sunday morning in that Centennial Year when the Queen and Prince Philip came to the service and the power failed wreaking havoc with Mr. Hewitt's special musical arrangements in honour of the Royal presence. Godfrey took this unexpected development in his stride, of course.
In those years we had a strong rivalry with the choir of St. Matthew's then led by Brian Law. We used to take it out in our annual football match against them led as usual by Mr. Hewitt from the sidelines.
Aside from the wonderful musical and moral education that Mr. Hewitt offered us, there was a great spirit of friendship and fun among the boys and the men. Godfrey Hewitt set the tone for the wonderful institution that the choir was in the '60s and '70s. He engendered in all of us enormous affection and respect.
I entered university the year after I left the choir and studied in Toronto, Cambridge, Shanghai and Princeton. I have been a professor of political science at Brock University since 1989 with two periods of leave of the University from '91-93 and '98-2000 when I served as a diplomat at our Embassy to China.
2 comments:
I know this is an old post I am replying to, but I thought you'd be interested to know that I just completed a Doctor of Music degree, and the main body of the subject of my thesis was Dr. Hewitt's contributions to the Anglican Church. I have never met you, (I joined the Cathedral choir in 1980) although you might have known my Dad, Jim Brough, who worked with Garth Hampson for many years.
If you are interested in reading my paper, feel free to contact me, and I'd be happy to send it to you.
Best wishes,
John.
Some trivia from years gone by. I was a member of Godfrey's boys choir, along with my older brother, roughly between the years 1958 and 1962. (I was very young, so those years may be slightly off.) I will always remember Godfrey Hewitt with the utmost respect. We learned a lot from him, met new friends, and had a good time in general. I even remember Mr. Hewitt's old Jaguar. (Perhaps that is an unusual part of my memories of him.) I don't know if there would be any records of the choir members from back then. But you can search for us - I am Larry Scheer and my brother's name is John.
Best regards and fond memories.
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