<Tr> <Th> Years active </Th> <Td> 1920 - 1930s </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Labels </Th> <Td> Greensleeves Records </Td> </Tr> <P> Ernest Arthur Lough (pronounced "Luff"; 17 November 1911--22 February 2000) was an English boy soprano who sang the famous solo "O for the Wings of a Dove", from Felix Mendelssohn's "Hear My Prayer", for the Gramophone Company (later HMV and then EMI) in 1927 . The record became HMV's biggest seller for 1927, and made the piece, the choir and the soloist world - famous . The original master recording wore out, and a second version had to be recorded to replace it in 1928 . In 1962, it became EMI's first million - selling classical record, earning it "gold disc" status . </P> <P> Lough was born in Forest Gate, County Borough of West Ham, Essex, England . His father worked for an insurance company . He was a treble in the local church choir, at St Peter's, Forest Gate . He auditioned at Southwark Cathedral, but joined the choir of the Temple Church in London in 1924, which was under the direction of 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, Lough had a choral scholarship to the nearby City of London School . </P>

Who sang oh for the wings of a dove