John Stanton Shirley-Quirk, also known as John Shirley-Quirk, was born on August 28, 1931, in Liverpool, and was an English bass‑baritone. After studying chemistry at Liverpool University, he resumed vocal training with Austen Carnegie. His breakthrough came in 1961 with the British premiere of Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers and in 1962 as the Doctor in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. He joined Benjamin Britten’s English Opera Group in 1964, creating roles in Curlew River, Canticle IV: Journey of the Magi, and Death in Venice. His recordings include Britten, Mahler, Vaughan Williams, and the 1968 premiere of Delius’s Requiem under Meredith Davies. He received a CBE in 1975 and taught at the Peabody Conservatory from 1991 until his death from cancer in Bath on April 7, 2014.
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English Song Anthology
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J.S. Bach: Six Cantatas
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Purcell: The Fairy Queen; Songs And Arias
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Beethoven: Mass in D Major, Op. 123 "Missa solemnis"
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Gluck: Alceste, Wq. 44 (Sung in French) [Live Recordings 1981]
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| Handel: Judas Maccabeus (Complete Oratorio) |
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Tippett: A Child of our Time etc
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Vaughan Williams: 5 Tudor Portraits & Variants of Dives & Lazarus
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Mahler: Orchestral Songs
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Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 "Babij Jar"
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Walton: The Bear
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Elgar: The Light of Life
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Britten: War Requiem, Sinfonia da Requiem & Ballad of Heroes
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Britten: The Rape of Lucretia; Phaedra
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Berlioz: Cléopâtre; Herminie; 5 Mélodies
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