Anselm Hughes

Anselm Hughes, born Humphrey Vaughan Hughes in London in 1889 and died at Nashdom in 1974, was an English musicologist who specialised in medieval and Renaissance music. His significance lies in the fact that, in England, he was among the first scholars to devote themselves systematically to these repertoires, combining his ecclesiastical vocation with academic research.

After studying at Westminster School and Keble College, Oxford, he was ordained deacon in 1912 and priest in 1913. Over the following decade he worked as a curate and choirmaster in several London churches and, between 1915 and 1920, served as clerical secretary of the Society of the Faith. In 1922 he joined the Anglican Benedictine community at Pershore Abbey, where he made his profession the following year. There he directed the music until 1945 and was prior from 1936 to 1945; the community moved to Nashdom Abbey in Buckinghamshire in 1926.

His institutional activity was wide-ranging: he held posts in the Plainsong and Mediaeval Music Society, presided over the Guild of St Gregory from 1945 to 1964 and directed the Faith Press from 1951 to 1961. In 1953 he was named FSA and in 1960 became vice-president of the Gregorian Association.

His legacy takes two forms. On the one hand, there are his contributions to Grove's Dictionary and to the second edition of The Oxford History of Music, together with the editing of the second volume of The New Oxford History of Music, and, with Gerald Abraham, the third. On the other, there are his editions of English repertoire, such as The Old Hall Manuscript (with H.B. Collins), The Fayrfax Series of Early English Choral Music and The Portiforium of St Wulstan. His papers are held at Royal Holloway, University of London.