Memories of Jill Mitchell
Died 30 December 2024
Members will be saddened to learn of the recent death of the soprano Jill Mitchell. I am grateful to her long-standing friend Anne Shepherd who phoned me with this sad news. Jill had been a loyal supporter of forum activities for several decades, a regular at workshops and the summer school in Ambleside. Looking back through my records for her presence at my own workshops (just those devoted to early English music) she sang Taverner to Tomkins (Nether Alderley, 2002), William Byrd (Cilcain, 2004), Robert White (Chester, 2014) and Peter Philips (Didsbury, 2018). Those composers might fairly be regarded as ‘safe bets’, but Jill’s quest for widening her musical horizons went much further. To cite one example: in 2003 thirty intrepid singers gathered in Whitegate to explore ‘1453: John Dunstaple and The Hundred Years War’ adding items by Bernard de Cluny, Royllart, Alanus and Pullois, hardly mainstream names. Prior to penning a review Jill sent a postcard (remember those?), thanking me for a ‘hair-raising’ day. And who will forget those reviews, plentiful, generous, and beautifully crafted whether in prose or verse? I’m intending to share several when we come to celebrate NWEMF’s first fifty years in 2027.
Jill was unashamedly old-school in not jumping on board with computers or emails, as far as I’m aware. Instead, her thoughts were shared in handwriting, (somewhat antiquated) typewriter (a nightmare for newsletter editors), or telephone. After my workshops she allowed me a respectable interval to return home, quaff a gin and tonic, savour a meal, and then the phone would ring mid-evening. Her gratitude and enthusiasm for what we had achieved (or not) were always welcome, peppered with totally justified mild chastisements (‘you talk too fast’, ‘the music was too difficult for us’ – plus ca change).
As Anne rightly put it Jill’s death marks the end of an era. I shall relish happy memories of her tall figure, slightly stooping, occasionally swaying, sometimes conducting with one hand (the beat not necessarily according with mine)… It was a privilege to know such a dedicated amateur in the true sense of the word, and we shall miss you.
Peter Syrus
Peter has already written about all the points I might have made but here are some memories. I first encountered her at Ambleside many years ago. When going through the list with the other tutors and questioning whether or not I had met her before, the response from someone was “She’s the one who conducts herself”. Instantly recognisable!
When editing the newsletter for the first time round I had to decipher many of her handwritten reports and had one or two polite altercations about her Latin – not all of you will know that Philip Gruar, my husband, is a Cambridge classics graduate and was always interested in her Latin phraseology. But in one instance it wasn’t Latin but the spell checker on my computer which incorrectly decided what the English word ought to have been and I didn’t notice. When we next met at a workshop, Jill, not realising how the spell check works, was angrily puzzled as to how the word could possibly have been misconstrued. We were called to start the workshop before I could explain and the subject was not mentioned again.
But my last memory is the time she attended the Higham summer school and the final time that Roger directed it. Deborah organised a tribute to him – a tutors’ performance of a Purcell song (Deborah, Hugh, me and Philip) and afterwards Jill mentioned that during the performance she had concentrated on each of us in turn. An interesting way of listening I thought.
Elizabeth Dodd
Published in February 2025 Newsletter
I first encountered Jill when she attended singing days at the College of Adult Education in Manchester, where I worked as Staff Tutor in Music. These courses did not involve ‘early’ music exclusively, nor was the content of the days exclusively sacred. It quickly became apparent that Jill had a deep knowledge of, and appreciation for, plainchant, and her friendship with the renowned plainchant expert Dr Mary Berry became known at a fairly early stage.
Jill was also an enthusiastic attender at courses promoted at Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, by the renowned serpent player and musical entrepreneur Andrew van der Beek.
After the College closed in the summer of 1990, and Mostly Music came into existence, Jill was a regular participant in the various events which we (Val and I) promoted. These, in addition to day courses, included singing holidays in, among other places, northern Spain, northern Italy, and once, most memorably, in the Holy Land. Peter has noted her enthusiastic participation in the NWEMF summer schools at Ambleside. I can add that she became a no-less-keen supporter of the early music summer schools held at Higham Hall, near Cockermouth, once ‘Ambleside’ had come to an end.
Jill’s natural ebullience was one of her most endearing characteristics. As Peter acknowledges, she will be very sorely missed.
Roger Wilkes
I was sad to hear of Jill’s death earlier this year. She attended many of my courses and the NWEMF Summer School, always making a significant contribution, singing with her customary enthusiasm, making helpful comments on the meaning and translations of texts and, of course, providing copious reviews of workshops she attended. I also owe her a personal debt of gratitude. In 2010, when I published my book on the Spanish composer Juan Esquivel, Jill very kindly undertook the translation of the Latin of an important Dedicatory Letter to Esquivel’s patron, my Latin skills, alas, not being up to this task. Although Jill said it had been hard work, I think she enjoyed the challenge. It was a pleasure and privilege to have known her and worked so closely with her over many years.
Clive Walkley
Published in April 2025 Newsletter
