The Rt Revd Dr Richard Fenwick writes:
ALAN PAGE was born in South Glamorgan in 1938. A 25-minute walk through fields and woods took him into the ancient priory and parish church of St Michael’s, Ewenny. It was the Norman & Beard organ here that fired his lifelong love of music and the organ. He studied hard at the piano, until GCEs at Bridgend Grammar School took over; he remained largely a self-taught organist, developing extraordinary skills in extemporisation.
Alan was heavily involved in choral music, both at school and in St Mary’s, Nolton, in the centre of Bridgend. The director of music was Vera Henry Llewellyn, for whom he had an enormous regard, and the organ was a 1875 Bryceson Brothers & Ellis.
In 1957, he went to St David’s College, Lampeter, in whose strong community he thrived. Graduating in 1960, he spent two years at St Michael’s College, Llandaff, before ordination to the diaconate in 1962. He served his title in the central Cardiff parish of St Teilo, where he was very happy.
In 1964, he moved to a curacy at St Julian’s, Newport. Sadly, this was a bad period for Alan — the long illness and death of his mother made life very difficult.
In 1967, he left for Holy Trinity, Hoxton, in north London. His Vicar was the kindly and magnetic Kenneth Loveless, and Alan found a fellow enthusiast for railways, trams, and music — although he never followed Fr Kenneth’s other loves of folk dancing and playing the concertina.
From here, he became Vicar of St Michael and All Angels, Camden Town, where he settled for a 27-year long ministry.
He loved the place, the people, the schools, and the youth organisations, including Scouts and Cubs. But he had an endlessly questing mind, and, after some years, the parish did not provide the challenge he needed. During this time, he was able to make trips to Paris. He built a fine library on continental organ builders — especially Aristide Cavaille-Coll. To the envy of many, it was also here where he found a copy of the rare 18th-century treatise on organ building by Dom Bédos, L’Art du facteur d’orgues.
Alan continued academic study, and, after taking clinical theology at the Westminster Foundation, Alan enrolled at Birkbeck, from where he gained a 2:1 in psychology.
In 1998, he resigned from Camden Town, staying for four years in the vicarage as a licensed public preacher. So came his retirement to the Monmouthshire town of Usk, close to the ancient priory church. Here, Alan settled into a life of musical study, and enjoyed his library of transport books and journals. He was a collector of CDs, especially music by American (and mid-European) composers. His taste ran from the multi-tonal complexities of Ives through to Copeland, William Schumann, Samuel Barber, and on to Andrzej Panufnik, one of his discoveries five years ago.
His house was a delightful former tavern, but with many stairs, and, after a new knee in 2015, movement was increasingly difficult for him. Even so, the house was ideal for his large library, and the chamber organ that he bought in 2016.
To visit Alan in Usk was to sit in his kitchen, wreathed in pipe-smoke, drinking mugs of tea with numerous Digestive biscuits, and strolling through the world of his endless imagination. He would talk about everything from the organ-builders of 18th-century Paris to . . . whatever. His knowledge was detailed and astonishing. To know him was a privilege, and those memories are indelible.
This June, after long illness he went into hospital in Ebbw Vale, where he died on 2 August. There are so many who will remember with real gratitude an extraordinary, talented, “rebellious”, yet endlessly fascinating and kindly man. Rest in peace, Alan.
