Ronald Woan
Head of the Liverpool Cathedral Choir for more than 30 years
RONALD WOAN, who has died aged 99, was the director for more than three decades, of the choir of Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral; in 1953 he auditioned an 11-yearold Paul Mccartney, but, unimpressed by the future Beatle’s rendition of Once In Royal David’s City, turned him down.
“If I had taken him on, he would probably have ended up teaching music in a comprehensive school,” Woan observed much later. “Under the circumstances … I think he owes me an awful lot of money.”
Born in the Walton area of Liverpool on August 27 1919, Ronald Woan began his early musical training when he joined his father in the local church choir. In 1931 he won a place in the choir of Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, together with a scholarship to Liverpool Institute.
When Ronald’s voice broke, the choirmaster, Edgar Robinson, kept him on as music librarian, also giving him organ lessons. Soon making his mark as a church organist, Woan worked at Rushworth and Dreaper, the Liverpool firm of organ builders.
During the Second World War he served as a driver in the Royal Army Service Corps, and after being rescued off Dunkirk he saw action in North Africa and then survived shrapnel wounds and malaria in Italy.
After the war he began his teaching career at Waterloo Secondary Modern School in Oldham. Then, in September 1948, he was offered the role of Cathedral Choir director in Liverpool.
He initially took the job on a temporary basis, but in the event he took charge of the choir for 34 years, while also teaching at Manor High School in Crosby. With his fellow former chorister and organist, Noel Rawsthorne, he built up a fine musical tradition. As well as the traditional choral repertoire, he added enthusiasms of his own – new anthems by Edwin Roxburgh, Peter Dickinson, Kenneth Leighton, and Rawsthorne, whose two settings of the Evening Canticles are dedicated to Woan.
Woan’s quiet demeanour belied a dogged determination to achieve the highest standards. As Giles Gilbert Scott’s building expanded, so did the range of musical events and special services. The first of the new bays was opened in April 1961, Woan taking
charge as the Cathedral Singers, the Cathedral Choir plus the brass players of the Liverpool City Police Band all came together for a stirring rendition of William Walton’s Coronation Te Deum. The following year there was a full scale performance of Berlioz’s Grande Messe des Morts.
An advocate of the music of Benjamin Britten, Woan also conducted one of the early performance of Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time.
On October 25 1978, in the presence of the Queen, the Liverpool diocese came together to celebrate the completion of the cathedral with A Song of Creation, commissioned from the former chorister, John Madden. A challenging piece, it was scored for two groups – at the east end an organ and brass ensemble, and at the west end a double choir with organ and more brass players. All were expertly controlled by Woan.
The performance was televised and later released on record, as was the subsequent Diocesan Choral Eucharist involving some 2,000 singers. Further recordings followed, before Woan’s retirement from the cathedral in 1982.
In retirement, as well as indulging his love of fell walking and gardening, Woan served as a sacred music producer for Abbey Records. In 2004 he was one of the 78 male recipients of the Royal Maundy Money, presented by the Queen. Taking part in the service was his 14-year old granddaughter, Rebecca, a member of the newly formed Girls’ Choir.
In 1953 Ronald Woan married Doreen Mcloughlin. She survives him with two daughters and a son.
Ronald Woan, born August 27 1919, died April 17 2019