1. Boris Ord is best known for his choral setting of Adam lay ybounden, his only published composition.
17 Facts About Boris Ord
1. 2.
Bernhard Ord was born at Clifton, Bristol, the youngest son of Clement Ord, a lecturer at the University of Bristol, and Johanna Anthes.
3.
Boris Ord graduated from Clifton in 1914 aged 17, and he went to study at the Royal College of Music on an organ scholarship as a pupil of Walter Parratt.
4.
Boris Ord's studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I and Ord went to serve as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps.
5.
In 1920, Boris Ord won an organ scholarship at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
6.
Boris Ord spent a year working at the Cologne Opera in 1928, before returning to Cambridge as a conductor.
7.
In 1936, Boris Ord became director of the Cambridge University Musical Society.
8.
In 1929, Boris Ord took the position of Organist of King's College, Cambridge, a role which placed him in charge of the chapel choir.
9.
Boris Ord was assisted by an organ scholar, a role held from 1939 by David Willcocks.
10.
Boris Ord became well acquainted with the Dean of the college, Rev Eric Milner-White, who originally devised the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols in 1918.
11.
Boris Ord served in an administrative role in the Royal Air Force, now being considered too old to fly.
12.
Boris Ord took on the new title of "Director of Music", while Willcocks was appointed to the role of Organist.
13.
Boris Ord retired in 1957, and Willcocks took over his role under the title "Organist and Director of Music", a title which has since been held by all his successors.
14.
Boris Ord was widely known within the music profession to be homosexual, and he never married.
15.
Boris Ord died on 30 December 1961, aged 64, and was cremated on 5 January 1962 at Cambridge Crematorium.
16.
Boris Ord is known for his only published piece of music, a choral setting of a medieval text, Adam lay ybounden, written in 1957.
17.
Boris Ord's carol is frequently performed at the popular annual service Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's, sometimes alternating with the other settings by Peter Warlock and Philip Ledger.