No . 138 The Trusty Servant
The Pearl Fishers and L ’ Elisir d ’ Amore , Handel ’ s Ottone and the Quirister opera Figaro and Susanna ; conductor of a memorable Furley ’ s production of Trial by Jury ; bell ringer and inventor of new methods , seemingly involving more mathematics than most computers could cope with . He was the printer of countless concert programmes and Chapel service sheets , dealing uncomplainingly with last-minute requests for copy which he would fulfil by working through the night . And his wonderful posters made audiences materialise whatever the occasion .
Tony was a director of big projects and ( for a time ) head of the largest academic department in the school . Yet he was also the very opposite of a prima donna , a man of unselfishness and loyalty who gave unstinting support to all the routine occasions and rehearsals , who thought nothing of making a round trip of a hundred miles from a conference or Duke of Edinburgh Award exercise for the sake of an hour in Chapel , swelling the ranks at a mid-week service . His pupils respected his example , and those who were fortunate enough to make it into Cantores Episcopi , which he ran as a genuine co-operative , were given an education that was far more than musical . He was also a shrewd observer of boys and dons , whose advice – always sought , never obtruded – was fair and understanding .
One of Tony ’ s great moments as a singer was the fortissimo alto entry on page three of Haydn ’ s motet ‘ Insanae et vanae curae ’, at the words ‘ saepe furore replent ’. Tony always delivered this lead , slightly ahead of the beat , with an awesome passion which seems to sum up exactly how much he put into everything he did . The sound is ringing in my ears as I write , and I am sure it can still be heard in Chapel by those who listen out for it , especially on some quiet Tuesday just before evensong .
Richard Shorter ( CoRo , 80-13 ; HoDo , A , 93-06 ) continues : My first meeting with Tony was in March 1980 when Martin Gregory was showing me round during my interview . A mop of black hair with a smile underneath it came bobbing up Meads path from science school , quickly nodded at Martin , and passed on rapidly towards Printing Soc , which was then in the back rooms of Musa . Martin then gave me a thumbnail sketch of my immediate senior colleague in glowing terms but including words like chaotic , fully stretched and totally dedicated . In the 40 or so years that I knew him , Tony did not change his characteristics . He was passionately devoted to the boys , loved physics and computers and was a great musician . I was the third housemaster who looked after him in Furley ’ s ; he would regularly visit two more even though he had retired .
In the house , my greatest memories of him are the productions of house plays . Driving to Portsmouth to negotiate props from Victory ’ s stores for Billy Budd . Working till midnight in QE2 on the set for The Madness of King George and knowing that he would be up for hours doing a line-by-line critique of the rehearsal that had happened earlier in the evening .
Tony and I used to take groups of boys walking in the lakes in October Leave-Out along with Gerald Penney , Geoff Robinson and Nicolas von Malaise . Sitting on top of Helvellyn one lunchtime we decided it would be great fun to give these expeditions more edge by initiating a D of E group at Winchester . This opened up a new vista for Tony : he already had a mountain leadership certificate and so was well placed to get involved in the local D of E community . Eventually , he was able to open it to all in the school and was a local expedition assessor for Hampshire .
He always supported the music of the house , particularly the house singing competition , but perhaps my happiest memories of him musically was his playing ‘ Jerusalem ’ and ‘ Abide with Me ’ at the end of each term .
During much of my time in at Winchester , Tony was either Head of Physics or Head of Science . In both roles , he was enthusiastic and supportive . His idea was that education should be fun , and he assumed that Wykehamists would pass exams anyway . Therefore , in the best sense , our role was to entertain , stretch and enthuse . I don ’ t think any of us used the same material two years running ; I certainly did not have a filing cabinet full of pull-it-out worksheets , although many times I wished that I had .
After his retirement , I regularly met Tony when I was playing for Glee Club . He was unchanged in his enthusiasms and his commitment to them . I last saw him in April when we both went to the funeral of one of our former pupils , Andrew Johnson . Andrew had been an enthusiastic bell-ringer , and it was only then that I realised just how committed Tony had been to the local towers . I ’ m not sure if he knew his illness at the time , but I am sure he wouldn ’ t have ever mentioned it .
Charles Daniels ( A , 73-77 ): Tony was a benevolent presence through my Win Coll days - a kindly Furley ’ s House Tutor when I arrived , and I owe my Physics A-level to his lucid teaching .
But many of my memories of him are musical ones , though he was also busy with Corps , Print Soc , theatre productions and more .
We were violinists in First Orchestra ; in Chapel Choir he was a stalwart alto , I a rookie tenor ; there were smaller vocal groups ; we both sang in the Kingsgate Singers , and he founded Cantores Episcopi during my first year .
Tony thought up the title , deriving from William of Wykeham , our founding bishop . We were a Furleyite fivesome
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