Peter GODFREY Obituary

He was my friend for ninety years - from when he was five and I was three and we grew up as neighbours. Shared a spell at Bluntisham (Cambridgeshire) Church of England school. Constant playmates - he was always the Boss , always kindly, but he made me the gofer. Separated by the War I was made to follow in his footsteps; we both trained as Infantry Officers(he was a Champion on the Rifle Range) and served in the Northamptonshire Regiment and later in the Kings African Rifles following the route from Kenya to Somaliland. During my years of working in India and Sri Lanka we had only a Christmas Card relationship - but in 1965 I was invited to join a Company in Auckland and just a few nights before flying from Colombo to Auckland I overheard a party guest who had just left NZ to return to the UK talking of a talented musician who had left Marlborough College to take up a position at the Auckland Cathedral. I immediately knew it must be Peter and I dined with him and Sheila a week later. Arriving to become permanent resident a few months later he spotted me on Queen Street and from some distance away he gave me the joyful welcome shout "You're here!!". There would be no further breaks in our friendship; I was able to arrange a commercial sponsorship to raise funds for an overseas tour of his beloved Dorians and later persuaded the Choir to help me with fund-raising for charity. In the years when he drove from Wellington to Auckland for the annual "Nostalgia"week reunion of the Dorians he broke the journey by staying with us at our Kinloch Bach; singing together one evening after dinner he growled " You should be singing in a choir". Obedient as ever I joined the Hibiscus Coast Singers with whom I still sing under the baton of a former Dorian ! Peter will never be forgotten.

Peter was a wonderfully attentive godfather to me our familes were great friends. My thoughts are with all the family.

Peter remains one of my favourite rehearsal conductors. He had the musical pedigree and the experience to make you believe that you could overcome any technical challenges. I looked forward to Tuesday evenings at Woburn, and nearly always left the hall on a "high".

He made a point of getting the basics right - among these being accurate rhythm and intonation, attention to dynamics, strong consonants and unanimous cut-offs.

One abiding memory is of the initial marking up of the first chorus from Handel's Messiah (And the Glory of the Lord). Peter would instruct us to take our 2B pencils (no substitutes) and he would then dictate all the "clears", crescendos and diminuendos. And 99 per cent of the time, his "clears" would be half the length of the basic beat. No overthinking or ambiguity - just commonsense music making.

Thank you Peter for sharing your knowledge with us.

Deepest sympathies to the Godfrey family from the Holy Trinity Cathedral Music Trust
To make a contribution to the Belinda Godfrey Memorial Organ Scholarship, you may:
a.send a cheque made out to Holy Trinity Cathedral Music Trust to:
Holy Trinity Cathedral Music Trust
PO Box 37-148
Parnell
Auckland 1151
(Note: For Belinda Godfrey Memorial Scholarship}
b.make a bank transfer to:
Holy Trinity Cathedral Music Trust
02-0214-0202855-025
Ref: B Godfrey

In either case, if you wish to have a receipt for tax purposes, please provide a postal or email address.
Please send any questions to [email protected]
We are grateful for the opportunity to ensure that the Godfrey music legend will live on.

A sad loss of a great and influential man. My involvement with choirs, conducting and choral composing is directly a result of singing under him at university and in the first 4 years of NZ Youth Choir. In those days, many of us dropped into choral conducting (as school teachers) simply because we had sung in choirs. So he was our model. He was an inspiration for so many over his long career. His legacy is huge and we all thankful for his contribution to the musical life of this country.

I lived at 8 Karaka Grove Waikanae for 16 years. I enjoyed Peter and Sheila's company on many occasions especialy our annual street parties. I moved away from Karaka Grove after Sheila's passing. I have such fond memories of them both. Best wishes to their family.

I have known and sung with Peter since 1959 and have learned a lot from this wonderful experience. Rest peacefully, Peter.

One of the Greats!