Organ legend, RIP

Friends have reported the death of Nicholas Kynaston, the universally admired English organist, at the age of 83.

Jeremy Filsell, outgoing director of music at Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, New York, writes:

RIP Nicolas Kynaston, one of the greatest organistic influences for me. A remarkably instinctive musician who, on his day, could thrill to the core with both virtuosity and an innate sense of musical architecture like no-one else. This recording of VIERNE (1977) simply blew me away as a teenager, and I knew it was he with whom I really wanted to study … Thank you NK for all your inspiration over many decades.

The youngest of seven children, born in Devon. Kynaston studied in Rome and Londn. At 19, he was appointed organist of Westminster Cathedral, holding the post for ten years before embracing an international concert and recording career.