(Peter Maxwell. Photograph courtesy of Independent Newspapers)Entertainer and piano man extraordinaire, Peter Maxwell, died on June 13 in a UK hospital after a long battle with ill-health.
Maxwell will be remembered fondly by Durban audiences for his popular stints at the Edward Hotel on the beachfront until about ten years. Although based in the UK, he formed a lasting relationship with Durban and loved coming to the city. His loyal fans over three generations always responded with major support and many charitable organisations benefited from his efforts.
In an article in the Daily News (June 14), his son David Jiggens acknowledged that his father had lived life to the full but was enormously affected when ill-health forced him to give up performing. The death of his beloved wife Bess in November 2011 added to his descent into further illness.
“It was recognised by all the family and everyone who knew him, that South Africa - and Durban, in particular – was his real “homeland” and the place in the world where he felt totally at home with the surroundings, the people and all the magnificent friends he had out there. In any day to day conversation he would always put Durban and South Africa on a pedestal as a place with no comparisons.”
Maxwell founded the St Magnus Festival in 1977 and was appointed the Master of the Queen’s Music in 2004. He also became an Honorary Fellow of Homerton College, Cambridge.
“Peter Maxwell had the most wicked chuckle and was always in high spirits,” says artSMart editor, Caroline Smart. “His musical ability was unsurpassed and his sense of humour and comedy presentation often overshadowed his technical abilities.”
Catch Peter Maxwell Live at Monos 1978 - a very old recording on You Tube
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