No . 131 The Trusty Servant number of whose members have since risen to distinction as professional singers . Music also loomed large in Peter ’ s all-round activity as house tutor of Hopper ’ s for many years under John Gammell . He became a close friend of John and Meg Gammell and inspired Hopper ’ s musicians to numerous successes in house music competitions .
Meanwhile the coffee mug on the Michla organ bench at Sunday morning choir practice was part of Peter ’ s routine – and he liked routine . Picnicking in the car park at Glyndebourne had its established procedure : ‘ No , we don ’ t have the boot open .’ On visits to his sister and her family in Tanzania and later Kenya over many years he had his daily routine , described at his funeral by his great-nephew Oliver : ‘ Tea in his room at 8.30 , breakfast at 9.0 , keyboard playing and mathematical equation solving until lunch , siesta at 2.0 , tea at 4.0 , more keyboard playing , golf or a dog walk at 5.30 , dinner at 7.30 before retiring to his bedroom at 9.0 .’ Equivalent ingredients plus energetic cultural events likewise filled the day in Peter ’ s visits to the Somersets in Suffolk , every year from 2003 to 2018 .
The St Endellion Music Festival in Cornwall became an important summer engagement for Peter over many years , together with friends and colleagues : we enjoyed the hospitality of Podge and Meg Brodhurst at their house in Old Polzeath , together with the great pleasure of making music under the direction of our late lamented friends Julian Smith and Richard Hickox , with Peter accompanying rehearsals and singing with us in concerts .
Peter was naturally the regular accompanist for the annual Dons ’ Pantomimes . That of 1972 , when he had already been appointed to be housedon of Cook ’ s the following September , featured a happy dialogue with Tommy Cookson as Buttons . Buttons : ‘ Now here ’ s a shy young lad – what ’ s your name ?’ ‘ Peter .’ ‘ What do you want to do when you grow up , Peter ?’ ‘ I want to go to C .’ Buttons : ‘ I think that ’ s a Du Boulay entendre , don ’ t you , boys and girls ?’
Going to C provided , as all we housedons and ex-housedons know full well , a wealth of opportunities and challenges . The boys appreciated his gentleness and enjoyed moments of endearing innocence : ‘ It has come to my attention that only one boy in this house took any exercise yesterday , and that must stop .’ Peter was certainly challenged by the paperwork : Cookites recall times when there was no carpet visible on the study floor , even the ringing telephone submerged ; but one of them recalls him as ‘ a kind and gentle man who was deeply committed to the Cookites , wanting to see the best in us and genuinely interested in our lives . He was an avid spectator of house sport . I remember him bellowing at a soccer match : “ Out , out , anywhere but out !” which left us in total confusion ’ – a small matter of a comma being not easily conveyed from a touchline …. No confusion , however , in his direction of house music , where he was again in his element and achieved notable success .
Those opportunities and challenges , however , add up to a heavy burden , and Cookites recall having known Peter during his struggle with alcohol , in the midst of which , as one of them says , ‘ Everybody ’ s instincts towards Peter were protective and affectionate . We knew we needed to look after him as best we could , and although our behaviour sometimes did little to help him , we respected his having more of an artist ’ s sensitivity than most people , and regarded him with a strange tenderness .’
And in due course Peter won through – helped by the affection he had inspired in his friends , by characteristic understanding from John Thorn and James Sabben-Clare , above all thanks to the determined and loyal support of Michael Fontes over many years . So the music , the golf , the personality , the teaching came out on top . The music above all : in a series of 9.30 p . m . concerts in Music School , Peter accomplished the remarkable feat of playing and talking about all 48 of the Bach keyboard preludes and fugues ; and he then fulfilled another ambition by performing several of the formidable late piano sonatas of Beethoven .
Peter continued playing for the church services at St . Swithun ’ s- upon-Kingsgate and St . Lawrence ’ s until very recently ; and I benefited personally from his skill and exacting standards when he kindly accompanied me in a modest song recital in Music School just before I retired , and again a few years later in London , for just one Schubert song in a Members ’ St Cecilia ’ s Day concert at the Athenaeum . Peter put in a great deal of work in preparation , was a hard taskmaster in our rehearsal and a predictably superb accompanist in performance .
So , although in August 1973 he performed Beethoven ’ s 3 rd piano concerto in Cornwall with the St Endellion Orchestra under Richard Hickox – and so much else – Peter didn ’ t actually become a concert pianist . Instead , he spread his net more widely , to encompass his pupils and his friends in the breadth of his talents and qualities , academic , musical and human , leaving us with the memory of a very special and valued friend .
Peter very generously left to Win Coll his extensive collection of sheet music and CDs , and a Bechstein piano , which will duly be installed in Music School . We hope to arrange a memorial concert in due course .
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