Christopher Tambling, composer, organist, and former director of music at the Benedictine Downside Abbey and at Downside School near Bath, England, died in Wells on October 3, 2015. He was 51.
Following studies at Canterbury Cathedral and St. Peter’s College, Oxford, Tambling taught at various schools in England and Scotland before being appointed at Downside in 1997. He also served as organist at Downside Abbey and leader of several instrumental ensembles and as Master of the Schola Cantorum of Downside Abbey.
A composer, arranger, and editor, particularly of choral and organ music, Tambling’s works were published by Kevin Mayhew in Britain and Dr. J. Butz in Germany. Tambling also edited Masses by Charles Villiers Stanford and Richard Runciman Terry, and received numerous commissions from Germany; often these led to large-scale premieres. September 2014 saw the first performance of his Missa brevis in B flat, sung by 1,400 singers on Diocesan Children’s Choirs Day in the Marienkirche, Landau, and of the Schönstatt-Jubiläumsmesse, which was heard by over 10,000 churchgoers in Vallendar. Christopher Tambling is survived by his wife Sara and his sons Edward and Benjamin.
