George Halford (musician)

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George John Halford (13 February 1858 [1] – 11 February 1933 [2] ) was an English pianist, organist, composer and conductor.

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Life and career

Born in Chilvers Coton, Warwickshire, [1] Halford was the son of a violinist, and when young sang in a local choir and played brass in a local orchestra. [3] He studied the organ under William Chater at nearby Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, and in 1875 moved to Birmingham, where he studied piano and composition under Charles Swinnerton Heap and was successively the organist at St John's Church, Wolverhampton from 1881, St Michael's Church, Handsworth from 1886 and St Mary's Church, Handsworth from 1891. [1] He graduated in 1892 as a Bachelor of Music from the University of Durham [1] and a fellow of the Royal College of Organists. [2] From then until 1927 taught piano and musical theory at the Birmingham and Midland Institute School of Music. [3]

William Chater was an organist, composer, conductor and teacher from Coventry.

Holy Trinity Church, Coventry Church

Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, is a parish church of the Church of England in Coventry City Centre, West Midlands, England.

Birmingham City in the English Midlands, 2nd highest population of UK cities

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Halford made his public concert debut at Birmingham Town Hall in 1884, performing Ferdinand Hiller's 2nd Piano Concerto, conducted by Heap. [3] In 1886, he was made conductor of the Birmingham Choral and Orchestral Association and in 1892 conductor of the orchestra of the Birmingham and Midland Institute School of Music. [4] By 1897 he had a great deal of experience conducting amateur choirs and orchestras around Birmingham, [3] and had travelled to Europe to study conducting. [5]

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Ferdinand Hiller German composer and conductor

Ferdinand (von) Hiller was a German composer, conductor, pianist, writer and music director.

In 1897, backed by a syndicate of 54 leading local citizens, he established George Halford's Orchestra, [6] which performed annual series of fortnightly concerts at Birmingham Town Hall for the next ten years. [3] Halford's ambitions were to establish a permanent orchestra of a quality to rival any in the country, made up primarily of local musicians. [3] Performing a wide range of challenging repertoire, the orchestra attracted attention from well outside Birmingham, including from major musical figures such as Richard Strauss and Sergei Rachmaninov, [7] and marked a major step in the development that would eventually lead to the establishment of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. [5] In 1906 Halford's players reformed themselves into the self-governing Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, [8] with Halford remaining as Music Director but only conducting half of the concerts. [9]

George Halford's Orchestra was a professional symphony orchestra based in Birmingham, England from 1897 to 1907 and an important precursor of the later City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Richard Strauss German composer and orchestra director

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City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra orchestra based in Birmingham, England

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its administrative and rehearsal base is at the nearby CBSO Centre, where it also presents chamber concerts by members of the orchestra and guest performers.

As a guest conductor he performed with orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. [4] He served as a member of the management committee of the City of Birmingham Orchestra (now the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) after its foundation in 1920. [10]

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Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra English orchestra with a remit to serve the South and South West of England

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an English orchestra with a remit to serve the South and South West of England. Founded in 1893, the BSO has developed a reputation as one of the UK's major orchestras and has worked with many of the world's leading composers, conductors and performers. Originally based in Bournemouth, the BSO moved its offices to the adjacent town of Poole in 1979.

Halford was a prolific composer of orchestral, chamber and vocal music, much of which was published by Alfred Novello. [3] His church music included anthems such as Remember not, Lord, our offences (1886) and The Souls of the Righteous (1915); a cantata The Paraclete (1891) and a Te Deum in D major. [1] His overture In Memoriam was performed at The Proms at the Queen's Hall in London on 11 October 1906. [11] Recalling the concert in 1938 the conductor Henry Wood pronounced the work "excellent" and concluded "Birmingham has always taken pride in its music, and when the full history of its activities comes to be written the name of George Halford should not be overlooked. Birmingham owes him a great deal". [12]

Joseph Alfred Novello was an English music publisher. He was the eldest son of Vincent Novello, and the creator of Novello and Company Ltd as a revolutionary force in music publishing.

An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short sacred choral work and still more particularly to a specific form of Anglican church music.

A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir.

He retired in to Cleeve Prior in Oxfordshire and died in Kidlington in 1933. [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Humphreys, Maggie; Evans, Robert, eds. (1997). "HALFORD, George John (1858-?)". Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland. London: A&C Black. p. 141. ISBN   0720123305 . Retrieved 2017-01-01.
  2. 1 2 Hinrichsen, Max (1947). Hinrichsen's Musical Year Book, 1947-1948. London: Hinrichsen Edition Limited. OCLC   222860123.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Harlow 1999, p. 49.
  4. 1 2 3 Handford 2006, p. 337.
  5. 1 2 Handford 2006, p. 206.
  6. ↑ Handford 2006, pp. 206-207.
  7. ↑ Handford 2006, pp. 206-209.
  8. ↑ Handford 2006, pp. 217.
  9. ↑ Harlow 1999, p. 53.
  10. ↑ King-Smith 1995, pp. 38, 250.
  11. ↑ "In Memoriam". Proms - The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival. BBC. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
  12. ↑ Wood, Henry (1946). My life of music. London: Victor Gollancz. pp. 203–204.

Bibliography

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