David Lumsden (musician)

Sir David James Lumsden PhD, DPhil, MA, MusB, FRCM, FRNCM, FRSAMD, FLCM, FRSA, Hon RAM, Hon FRCO, FKC (born 19 March 1928), is a notable choirmaster, organist and harpsichordist. He is also an authority on lute music.

Among the positions he has held are:

• • Organ Scholar, Selwyn College, Cambridge, 1948-1954
  • St Mary's Church, Nottingham, 1954–1956
  • Director of Music & Rector Chori at Southwell Minster, 1956-1959
  • Director of Music, Organist and Master of the Choristers at New College, Oxford, 1959-1976
  • Principal, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. 1976-1982
  • Principal of Royal Academy of Music, 1982-1993

He was a member of various chamber groupings, including the London Virtuosi (1972-76), (alongside James Galway, Jane Ryan, John Georgiadis and others), for which he played harpsichord.London Virtuosi home page

Biographical

• Married.
• Portrait painted by Jeff Stultens 1993.
• He was knighted in 1985.

Bibliography of scholarly writing

• The Sources of English Lute Music (1540-1620). The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 6, (Jul., 1953), pp. 14-22, Publ: Galpin Society
• The Lute in England
• Lumsden, David: An edition of Thomas Robinson’s The Schoole of Musicke (1603). Paris: CNRS, 1972.
• Lumsden, David: "De quelques éléments étrangers dans la musique anglaise pour le luth," in Jacquot, op.cit., pp.l97-204.
• Lumsden, David: "English Lute Music 1540-1620: an Introduction," PRMA LXXXIII (1956-1957) 1-13.
• Lumsden, David: "The Lute and its English Music," Listener (1953) 578ff. Note: The information in Lumsden’s articles is incorporated into the text of his dissertation, cited below.
• Lumsden, David: "The Lute in England," The Score VIII, (September, 1953) 36-43.
• Lumsden, David: The Sources of English Lute Music 1540-1620. (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Cambridge, England), 1955. 3 vols. Volume I is the text of the dissertation, describing the sources and the style of the pieces therein, including a discussion of provenance, and various transcription problems. Volume II is a thematic index of all the pieces including incipits and collations. Volume III is a transcription of selected works which was published separately by Schott (1954?).
• Lumsden, David: "The Sources of English Lute Music" (1540-1620)," The Galpin Society Journal VI (July 1953), 14-22.

Cultural offices
Preceded by Henry Oswald Hodgson	Director of Music of St. Mary's Church, Nottingham 1954-1956	Succeeded by Russell Arthur Missin
Preceded by Robert James Ashfield	Rector Chori of Southwell Minster 1956-1959	Succeeded by Kenneth Bernard Beard
Preceded by Albert Meredith Davies	Organist and Master of the Choristers of New College, Oxford 1959-1976	Succeeded by Edward Higginbottom
Preceded by Anthony Lewis	Principal of the Royal Academy of Music 1982-1993	Succeeded by Lynn Harrell

References

• information about portrait in the collection of the Royal Academy of Music
• List of Principals of the Royal Academy of Music