Though seven years younger than Gerald Finzi, Howard Ferguson was, in terms of musical experience and personal maturity, very much his senior. Nor was this surprising, for the pattern of his early years had been such as to arm him with a self-confidence and sense of purpose much greater than that which Finzi's experience of life had provided.

Born in Belfast on 21 0ctober 1908, Howard Ferguson was the youngest of the five children of Stanley and Frances Ferguson. His father was the Managing Director of the Ulster Bank and, though his mother played the piano, the family was not particularly musical. His sisters, however, endured piano lessons as a necessary ‘accomplishment', and it was this that awoke his interest and led him to demand lessons of his own.

He was lucky in his second teacher, Frederick Sawyer, and later even luckier in an encounter with the distinguished pianist Harold Samuel (1879-1937), who not only awarded him a prize in the 1922 Belfast Musical Competitions but, recognizing in him an exceptional talent, suggested that he should accompany him to London where he would prepare him for entry into the Royal College of Music after a period of general study as a day boy at Westminster School.

Most parents would have found the idea alarming, but the Fergusons recognized Harold Samuel's utter probity and agreed to entrust their son to his care. A suitable family was found for him to lodge with, but when this arrangement came to an end he joined Harold Samuel's own bachelor household. With him, however, went his beloved Nanny, May Cunningham - affectionately known as Pu (short for Pussycat) - who would not only vouch for his welfare, but could also help care for Samuel's elderly mother. From this moment Howard Ferguson became, to all intents and purposes, the son and heir that Harold Samuel never had; and it says much for the strength of his musical purpose that, however loving and supportive his blood family had been, he was content to exchange their artistic limitations for a life in which music was paramount and every day brought fresh insights into its mysteries.

Ferguson enrolled as a student of the Royal College of Music in 1924, studying harmony and counterpoint with R.0. Morris (1886-1948) and conducting with Dr Malcolm Sargent (1895-1967). Piano lessons continued, privately, with Harold Samuel.