He was a musician and scholar who specialized in music of the Tudor period. He founded the Clerkes of Oxenford, a vocal ensemble, in 1961 while he was a student at Magdalen College, Oxford. He made several recordings of choral music by Thomas Tallis, John Sheppard, and Orlando Gibbons, among others. He composed carols, anthems, hymns and psalm chants.
In addition to music, he was interested in classical languages, philology, and biblical studies. Late in life, he took up aikido.