Michael Stockwin Howard (14 September 1922 – 4 January 2002) was an English choral conductor, organist and composer. He was an important part of the Early Music movement in the middle of the last century, in particular as a celebrated interpreter of 16th century polyphony In his later years he made notable recordings of the late French Romantic school of organ composers, particularly César Franck

César Franck

César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....

, on the Cavaille Coll organ at St. Michael's Abbey in Farnborough.

He studied Organ (with G.D. Cunningham) and Composition (with William Alwyn

William Alwyn

William Alwyn, CBE, born William Alwyn Smith was an English composer, conductor, and music teacher.-Life and music:...

) at the Royal Academy of Music

Royal Academy of Music

The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. He also studied privately with Marcel Dupre

Marcel Dupré

Marcel Dupré , was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue.-Biography:Marcel Dupré was born in Rouen . Born into a musical family, he was a child prodigy. His father Albert Dupré was organist in Rouen and a friend of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who built an organ in the family house when...

 and Ralph Downes

Ralph Downes

Ralph William Downes CBE was an English organist, organ designer, teacher and music director, and was formerly Professor of Organ of the Royal College of Music....

.

In 1944 he founded The Renaissance Singers with whom he gave numerous concerts and made many recordings and broadcasts for the next twenty years. He was organist of Tewkesbury Abbey

Tewkesbury Abbey

The Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Tewkesbury in the English county of Gloucestershire is the second largest parish church in the country and a former Benedictine monastery.-History:...

 (1943-1944), Christ Church, Woburn Square in London (1945-1950), Ely Cathedral

Ely Cathedral

Ely Cathedral is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon...

 (1953-1958), St. Marylebone Parish Church

St Marylebone Parish Church

-First church:The first church for the parish was built in the vicinity of the present Marble Arch c.1200, and dedicated to St John the Evangelist.-Second church:...

 in London (1971-1979) and at St. Michael's Abbey in Farnborough (1984-1986). In the 1960s he formed and conducted the sixteen-voice group Cantores in Ecclesia.

External links

• Information about the premiere recordings of Michael Howard's Seven Songs for Countertenor
• Information about restored and reissued recordings made by Michael Howard conducting The Choir of Ely Cathedral and The Renaissance Singers
• Link to a recording made at Farnborough Abbey by Michael Howard
• Link to a recording made at Farnborough Abbey by Michael Howard
• Link to a recording made at Farnborough Abbey by Michael Howard
• Link to a BBC Classics reissue of Music for Westminster Abbey (Purcell) by Michael Howard and Cantores in Ecclesia
• Link to reissues by L'Oiseau Lyre of recordings of Byrd made by Michael Howard and Cantores in Ecclesia