Nunc dimittis: David Allan Drinkwater and Francis Jackson

David Allan Drinkwater

David Allan Drinkwater, 92, died in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on October 14, 2021. He was born December 16, 1928, in Kokomo, Indiana, and earned his Bachelor of Music degree in 1952 from Indiana University, Bloomington, where he studied organ with Oswald Ragatz. Also in 1952 he took second prize in the American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance.

After service in the United States Air Force he attended the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, where his teachers included Robert Baker, Seth Bingham, Margaret Hillis, and Ifor Jones, earning a Master of Sacred Music degree in 1957. While at Union he served as assistant organist/choirmaster to Searle Wright at St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, and assistant organist/choirmaster at Temple Emanu-El on Fifth Avenue, holding the latter position until 1977.

From 1955 until 1998 he taught at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, conducting the Kirkpatrick Chapel Choir and serving as university organist. From 1965 until 1984 he was chief editor of choral and organ music for J. Fischer & Co. and, from 1970, for H. W. Gray Music. His Wedding Service Music was first published by J. Fischer & Co. in 1968. Drinkwater and William Strickland were general editors of H. W. Gray’s “Contemporary Organ Series” for which he designed the award-winning cover.

He was a member of the American Guild of Organists, the Organ Historical Society, Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and the St. Wilfrid Club in New York City. From 1980 to 1984 he served on the selection committee for Fulbright Grants in Music.

David Allan Drinkwater is survived by his husband, Jonathan Clarke Mills, generations of former students, and the members of his and his husband’s families. A celebration of his life will be held March 26, 2:00 p.m., in Kirkpatrick Chapel, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Francis Jackson

Francis Jackson, 104, organist, choirmaster, teacher, and composer, died January 10 in York, UK. He was born on October 2, 1917, in Malton, North Yorkshire. He began his career in church music in 1929 as a chorister at York Minster under Edward Bairstow. In 1933, he was named organist of St. Michael’s Church, Malton.

Jackson continued studies with Bairstow until 1940, when he was called to military duty. In his military service, Jackson served in North Africa through World War II. Returning to York, he was named assistant organist at York Minster under Bairstow. Later, he wrote a biography of his teacher and mentor, Blessed City: The Life and Works of Sir Edward C. Bairstow.

In 1946 upon Bairstow’s death, Jackson was appointed organist and choirmaster of York Minster, serving in this capacity until 1982, when he was named Organist Emeritus. In 1957, he earned a Doctor of Music degree from Durham University and over the course of his life was awarded several honorary degrees, as well. As a recitalist, he performed worldwide and made various recordings, both as organ soloist and with the York Minster choir. He recorded four CDs of his own organ music alone for the Priory label.

Jackson was a prolific composer, with more than 160 works for organ, choir, and other genres, including symphonic works. He also penned numerous anthems, canticles, liturgical music, and hymntunes. He served as president of the Royal College of Organists between 1972 and 1974 and was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1982 for services to music, followed by being named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2007. His autobiography was published in 2013, Music for a Long While. Additional information may be found in “A Celebration of Francis Jackson’s 100th Birthday: A Living Centenary at York Minster, October 4, 2017,” by Lorraine Brugh, in the December 2017 issue, p. 20.