Ernest Lough

Ernest Lough, publicity photograph

Ernest Lough (11 November 1911 - 22 February 2000) was a famous boy soprano. He joined the choir of the Temple Church in London in 1923, which was under the direction of a brilliant young organist and choirmaster George Thalben-Ball (later Sir George Thalben-Ball) who had just succeeded Sir Henry Walford Davies.

As a chorister of the Temple Church, Ernest Lough had a choral scholarship to the nearby City of London School.

On 15 March 1927, HMV brought its new mobile recording unit to the Temple Church where the choir recorded Mendelssohn's Hear my Prayer, in which the famous solo O for the Wings of a Dove was sung by Ernest Lough. It is said that Lough had to stand on two bibles in order to be near enough to the microphone.

The record was an instant hit and was HMV's biggest seller for 1927. It made the piece, the choir and the soloist world famous. Crowds of people packed the congregation to hear Lough sing at Sunday services, and his singing on the recording was considered so beautiful that a legend grew up that he had died after singing the last note. The original master recording wore out and a second version had to be recorded to replace it in 1928. This recording continued to sell throughout the twentieth century and in 1962 it became EMI's first million-selling classical record, earning it "gold disc" status. It is still available on CD and has now sold over 6 million copies.

Ernest Lough's voice broke in 1928, after he had made a number of other recordings, although none of them achieved the iconic status of O for the Wings of a Dove. He continued to sing in his spare time as a baritone (and was one of the "gentlemen" or adult members of the Temple choir) and his sons in due course also became members of the choir. He died at the age of 88. His obituary appeared in The Times on 24 February 2000 and there is a commemorative plaque to him in the Temple Church.