Having worked in more than 40 countries, David now lives with his wife Elizabeth in a hilltop medieval bastide town in the Lot-et-Garonne, France. They are bibliophile collectors, specialising in early printing and manuscripts. In 2010 they founded Bourchier Ltd, an international publishing services company. David’s son, Jonathan, is currently based in Hong Kong as Christie’s Senior Advisor, Asia Pacific and Asian Art. David is a Freeman of the City of London and member of the historic guild the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
Looking back, David recognises the inescapable fact that his greatest opportunities have come completely without his seeking: his road was already mapped out for him, giving his life, even in the preparatory early years, the compelling unity of a musical composition – theme, variation, coda.
This reflection is summed up in the words of the medical doctor and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne in his Religio Medici of 1643:
“For even that vulgar tavern music, which makes one man merry, and another mad, strikes me in a deep fit of devotion, and a profound contemplation of the first Composer, there is something in it of divinity more than the ear discovers.”
Sir Thomas Browne, Religio medici, 1643