# RIP Neville Marriner **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495 "2016-10-02T16:57:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495/1 "2016-10-02T16:57:59Z")
[Neville Marriner died today aged 92.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/neville-marriner-led-renowned-academy-of-st-martin-in-the-fields-dies-at-92/2016/10/02/3bfbb3ec-88b2-11e6-875e-2c1bfe943b66_story.html) > [@](#): > > Neville Marriner, the British violinist-turned-conductor who founded the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and built it into one of the most popular and widely recorded chamber orchestras in the world, died Oct. 2. He was 92. I can’t begin to count the innumerable hours of sheer musical joy this man and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields have given me over the years with their recordings of Handel, Pergolesi, Vivaldi et al. RIP Sir Neville. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495/2 "2016-10-02T21:26:05Z")
“And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest…” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495/3 "2016-10-02T21:37:14Z")
“The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and He shall reign Forever and Ever!” RIP ☹ ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495/4 "2016-10-02T22:18:42Z")
I have so damn many recordings of his, and fond memories of quite a few live concerts. St. Martin-in-the-Fields won’t be the same without him. R.I.P. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495/5 "2016-10-03T00:18:58Z")
I never saw him live, but I heard live performances on the radio, and enjoyed them hugely. And I have a ton of his recordings. (Okay, not literally a ton…but over forty pounds!) I loved the gentleness, the delicacy of his touch. He wasn’t the sort of conductor who’d do the 1812 Overture, but, rather, say, Mendelssohn’s “Midsummer’s Night Dream.” The effect was always intimate and very gentle. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495/6 "2016-10-03T14:44:58Z")
Whether his recordings are good or not, “The Acadamy-of-St-Martin-In-the-Fields” is such a precious name I could never get past it. You have to admit, it’s a bit much. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495/7 "2016-10-03T15:32:04Z")
There’s a history behind the name, of course. When he was setting it up, one of his colleagues pointed out that the area where they were meeting once hosted meetings of “academies” or societies of people interested in different arts and sciences, and since they were meeting in (and getting practical support from) St Martin’s, the vicar (never one to miss a trick) said “Don’t forget the church!”. And I believe there’s a story about a radio presenter who introduced one of their recordings as “The Academy of YouKnowWhere directed by YouKnowWho”. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495/8 "2016-10-03T15:46:41Z")
I’m going to be there (London) in just a few days. All the more reason to stop by. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495/9 "2016-10-03T16:52:27Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Whether his recordings are good or not, “The Acadamy-of-St-Martin-In-the-Fields” is such a precious name I could never get past it. You have to admit, it’s a bit much. No, I don’t have to admit anything. [St Martin in the Fields](http://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/) is a real church in London. [Here’s the story](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/neville-marriner-led-renowned-academy-of-st-martin-in-the-fields-dies-at-92/2016/10/02/3bfbb3ec-88b2-11e6-875e-2c1bfe943b66_story.html): > [@](#): > > “It was the place where we gave our first ever concert back in 1958, so there’s significance in that,” Mr. Marriner told the _London Daily Telegraph_ in 2014. “But the real reason we took the name was that the vicar let us rehearse there for free so long as we publicized the church. That was the deal. And it was his idea that we should be an ‘academy’ rather than the ‘chamber orchestra’ we’d originally planned to call ourselves.” Their \*Messiah \*is my very favorite… ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495/10 "2016-10-03T20:07:22Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Whether his recordings are good or not, “The Acadamy-of-St-Martin-In-the-Fields” is such a precious name I could never get past it. You have to admit, it’s a bit much. Never been to Trafalgar Square? And it’s “The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields”. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495/11 "2016-10-03T20:14:58Z")
I was lucky enough to get to visit London as a teenager, and spent a lot of the visit in the Trafalgar Square area (seeing the two major museums there, the lions, and so on). That church was offering free concerts most afternoons in those days–not Sir Neville, but good music always, and I attended many, both on that visit and on subsequent visits. So the name “Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields” never seemed the least bit precious or affected to me. In any case, Sir Neville: a life well-lived. Thanks for all the music! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-neville-marriner/767495/12 "2016-10-03T22:36:41Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Whether his recordings are good or not, “The Acadamy-of-St-Martin-In-the-Fields” is such a precious name I could never get past it. You have to admit, it’s a bit much. Don’t have to admit anything. It’s a real church. I’ve been in it. And it’s spelled “acadEmy.” And “whether his recordings are good or not…”? :dubious: