Quiet and self-effacing, Donald Sprinck was a godly gentleman with a quite extraordinary musical gifting, remembered with great affection by those who had the privilege to know or be taught by him. In this the 25th anniversary of his death, friends, colleagues and former pupils are seeking to establish a memorial that will speak in this generation of the timeless values that he expressed so eloquently in his.
We hope that it will be possible to create a fund in his name that will enable an aspiring musician to study at Merchiston Castle School, a place that Donald loved deeply and served for 26 years until his retirement in 1972. We hope that this will also provide a means whereby his collected compostions may continue to be played, sung and heard.
The purpose of this website (“website, dear boy…?”) is to provide a facility whereby some outline biographical information may be assembled and to create a complete catalogue of all his known compositions, in due course making them available for download.
The development of this site is taking place alongside the launch of the memorial project, for which further details will be announced in the Summer 2010 edition of The Merchistonian. It is planned to hold an inaugural concert of his music at Merchiston Castle School early in 2011.
Many of you reading this will have known Donald in very different circumstances from those that were to be my joy and privilege; when I became organist of All Saints’ Church, Eastbourne, Donald was already in post as the Assistant (a wholly inappropriate title for one who was to become my father and grandfather in music). I was privileged to play for a packed church at his funeral in 1985 after almost nine glorious years of learning and fellowship. The congregation left the church to the magnificent strains of his Rhapsody “Caledonia”, after a service at which all the music played had been composed by him.
I hope very much that you will be willing to make your recollections available to the project, and to indicate to what extent you are willing for your material to become part of this site (and also whether or not you wish your name to appear). I am particularly hopeful that we might unearth some additional mansucripts of his that might otherwise be lost. I have been much encouraged by recent correspondence from former friends; so far, this has produced two delightful small organ pieces and much extra background information.
Facilities for uploading material for consideration will soon be added to this site. In the meantime, I would welcome correspondence by e-mail to: admin@donaldsprinck.co.uk
David Woodward.