Henry Wellington Greatorex

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Henry Wellington Greatorex (1816 – September 1853) was a musician, born in Burton upon Trent, England, and died in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1849, he married the artist Eliza Pratt.

Contents

[edit] Career

He received a thorough musical education from his father, Thomas Greatorex, who was for many years organist of Westminster Abbey, and conductor of the London "concerts of ancient music." He came to the United States in 1839. Prior to settling in New York City as a teacher of music and organist at Calvary Church, he played at churches in Hartford, Connecticut, including Center Church and St. John's Episcopal Church (West Hartford, Connecticut), when that parish was located in the adjacent city[1]. Greatorex frequently sang in concerts and oratorios. For some years he was organist and conductor of the choir at St. Paul's chapel. Greatorex did much to advance the standard of sacred music in the days when country singing-school teachers imposed their trivial melodies and the convivial measures of foreign composers on the texts of our hymn-books. He published a "Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, Chants, Anthems, and Sentences" (Boston, 1851).

One of Greatorex's best-known compositions is a setting of the Gloria Patri, widely used in Protestant denominations for the singing of the doxology in services to this day.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Allen, N. H. "Old Time Music and Musicians." Connecticut Quarterly, Volume II, 1896, pp. 154-157

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages