Ричард Дирксен: Жизнь и творчество органиста Вашингтонского национального собора.

American musician and composer

Richard Wayne Dirksen (February 8, 1921 July 26, 2003) was an American musician and composer, who served as organist and choirmaster of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D. C., from 1977 to 1988. Previously he was assistant organist and choirmaster from 1942 to 1964. In 1969, Dirksen was named the cathedral's precentor, giving him administrative oversight of all worship services until his retirement in 1991.

Dirksen was born in Freeport, Illinois, the eldest son of Richard Watson Dirksen and Maude Logemann. In high school, he played the bassoon and was a drum major. Awarded a scholarship, he then studied organ at Baltimore's Peabody Conservatory under Virgil Fox, graduating magna cum laude in June, 1942.

While still studying at Peabody, Dirksen became assistant organist to Paul Callaway at the Washington National Cathedral in February, 1942. Later that year, he began three and a half years of military service during World War II, resuming his post at the cathedral in December, 1945. In 1949, Dirksen was also appointed director of the glee club at the cathedral's affiliated St. Albans School. In 1969, he was the first lay person in the Anglican Communion to be named a Precentor, meaning he had administrative oversight of all worship services. During his long tenure at the cathedral, he produced ceremonial music and pageants for various occasions, such as the U. S. Bicentennial in 1976 and the consecration of the completed cathedral in 1990, attended by U. S. President George H. W. Bush and other dignitaries. Dirksen was succeeded by Douglas Major as Cathedral Organist and Choirmaster in 1988 and retired as Precentor in 1991.

He married Joan Milton Shaw in 1942 and the couple had four children: Richard, Geoffrey, Laura, and Mark. At the time of his death in Washington, D. C., on July 26, 2003, he was also survived by a sister, Phyllis, and a brother, Gerriet, along with seven grandchildren. He was a grandnephew of Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen.

Dirksen was awarded an honorary doctor of fine arts degree in 1980 by George Washington University, an honorary doctor of music by Marymount College in 1986, and the Medal of Excellence by the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. In 2006, the Cathedral Choral Society at Washington National Cathedral announced the establishment of an endowment fund in his memory to commission new Christmas choral music.