Sir Thomas Armstrong (1898-1994)

A childhood surrounded by music

Armstrong’s early life was unusually rich in musical opportunity.

Between 1907 and 1910 he was a chorister at the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace. During that period he sang at the funeral of King Edward VII in Westminster Abbey.

He then returned to the Peterborough area and, in 1912, was appointed organist of Thorney Abbey while still in his teens.

The following year he became articled to Haydn Keeton at Peterborough Cathedral, placing him directly inside one of the city’s strongest musical traditions.

Peterborough’s musical apprenticeship

From Oxford to the cathedrals

After the war Armstrong returned to Oxford, studying with Hugh Allen and Henry Ley. He graduated in modern history in 1921 and completed his Bachelor of Music the following year.

His career then moved rapidly through some of the leading institutions of British church music.

Leading the Royal Academy of Music

Armstrong’s most influential public appointment came in 1955 when he became Principal of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

He led the Academy for thirteen years, becoming known not only for musical judgement but for his concern for students and staff.

He also worked to strengthen relationships between the Academy and conservatoires elsewhere in Europe, helping develop a more international outlook for musical education.

Characteristically, Armstrong was still prepared to become a beginner himself. At the age of 57, after becoming Principal, he began taking lessons in the double bass from a member of his own staff.

The composer

Administration and education came to dominate Armstrong’s public reputation, but he composed throughout his life.

His output included around twenty-five anthems as well as carols, church services and a substantial number of songs.

For his Oxford doctorate he composed three larger works: A Passer-By, a Fantasy Quintet for piano and strings, and Friends Departed.

The larger works remained unperformed during his lifetime and were only recorded after his death.

Armstrong’s music belonged firmly to the English tradition associated with composers such as Parry, Vaughan Williams, Howells and Finzi. Even into his nineties, he continued to compose.

A broadcaster before broadcasting became ordinary

Armstrong’s first BBC organ recital was transmitted in 1927, only a few years after regular broadcasting began in Britain.

It became the beginning of a long association with the BBC, not only as a performer but as a communicator who could talk about British music to a wider public.

That part of his career is easy to overlook, but it placed Armstrong among a generation of musicians who helped move serious music beyond concert halls, cathedrals and universities and into people’s homes.

A Peterborough musical story

Armstrong’s national career can make it easy to lose sight of how deeply Peterborough shaped the beginning of his life.

His father was embedded in the city’s musical institutions. Thomas learned within that environment, became organist at Thorney Abbey, worked as assistant organist in Peterborough and trained beneath the ancient vaults of Peterborough Cathedral.

His fellow Cathedral apprentice Malcolm Sargent would also become one of the leading names in British classical music.

For a city sometimes better known nationally for engineering and industry, the careers of Armstrong and Sargent reveal another Peterborough tradition: a remarkably strong culture of church music, choirs, orchestras and musical education.

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