Bertram Luard-Selby (12 February 1853 – 26 December 1918) was an English composer and cathedral organist. As an organist, he served in

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...

and

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an English church of Norman architecture in Rochester, Kent. The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church of England and the s ...

. As a composer, he wrote prolifically for the church, the concert-hall and the theatre.

Life and works

Luard-Selby was born at

Ightham Mote Ightham Mote (), Ightham, Kent is a medieval moated manor house. The architectural writer John Newman describes it as "the most complete small medieval manor house in the county". Ightham Mote and its gardens are owned by the National Trust a ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

.''The Musical Times'', March 1908, p. 159 He studied the organ at the

Leipzig Conservatoire The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

under

Carl Reinecke Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (23 June 182410 March 1910) was a German composer, conductor, and pianist in the mid-Romantic era. Biography Reinecke was born in what is today the Hamburg district of Altona; technically he was born a Dane, as ...

and was appointed organist at, successively, St. Barnabas, Marylebone, and Highgate School (1876);

(1881); St John's Church, Torquay, 1884; and St. Barnabas,

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by London V ...

, 1887. He was appointed organist of

on the death of the incumbent, John Hopkins, in 1900, and held the post until 1916, when he resigned to take up a post at

Bradfield College Bradfield College, formally St Andrew's College, Bradfield, is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils aged 11–18, located in the small village of Bradfield in the English county of Berkshire. It is note ...

. He was the musical editor of ''

Hymns Ancient and Modern ''Hymns Ancient and Modern'' is a hymnal in common use within the Church of England, a result of the efforts of the Oxford Movement. The hymnal was first published in 1861. The organization publishing it has now been formed into a charitable ...

'', published in 1904. He also gave chamber music concerts in London in the 1880s. Fuller Maitland, J. A. and

John Warrack John Hamilton Warrack (born 1928, in London) is an English music critic, writer on music, and oboist. Warrack is the son of Scottish conductor and composer Guy Warrack. He was educated at Winchester College (1941-6) and then at the Royal College ...

.
"Luard-Selby, Bertram"
''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, accessed 23 June 2010 (requires subscription) At the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featu ...

of 1877, Luard-Selby's ''Kyrie Eleison'' was premiered at a concert together with two other novelties, Sullivan's '' In Memoriam'' and

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

's '' German Requiem''. ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...

'' said of Luard-Selby's work, "We failed to discover any originality of thought, but the writing throughout shows that its composer is an accomplished musician." He composed two school cantatas, ''The Waits of Bremen'' and ''A Castle in Spain''; chamber music including two piano quintets; a piano quartet; three sonatas for violin and piano; and many songs and part-songs. His church music includes two settings of the ''Magnificat'' and ''Nunc dimittis'', 16 anthems, and a number of pieces for the organ. Among Luard-Selby's orchestral works were ''Village Suite'', which premiered at the

Henry Wood Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert H ...

in 1908, and ''An Idyll'', described by ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as "extremely tedious" in 1897 and as "picturesque" two years later. His other works include incidental music to ''Helena in Troas'', a drama by John Todhunter and E. W. Godwin (London, 1886). He also wrote three operas: ''The Ring'' (1886) and ''Adela'' (produced in Nottingham in 1888), and a one-act

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

for two characters, ''

Weather or No ''Weather or No'' is a one-act comic opera, styled a "musical duologue", by Bertram Luard-Selby with a libretto by Adrian Ross and William Beach. It was produced at the Savoy Theatre from 10 August 1896 to 17 February 1897 as a companion piece to ...

'', first produced at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

in 1896 as a curtain-raiser for ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

''. Both ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' praised the music and the libretto of ''Weather or No'' and advised readers not to miss it.''The Observer'', 16 August 1896, p. 6; and ''The Times'', 18 August 1896, p. 6 It was also popular in Germany and Austria as ''Das Wetterhäuschen''. Luard-Selby died in

Brigg Brigg ( /'brɪg/) is a market town in North Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 5,076 in the 2001 UK census, the population increased to 5,626 at the 2011 census. The town lies at the junction of the River Ancholme and east–west tra ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

at the age of 65.

Notes

References

*Luard-Selby, Bertram. 1904. Hymns ancient and modern,with accompanying tunes. New edition 1904. London, William Clowes & Sons, OCLC 497122237

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luard Selby, Bertram Cathedral organists 1853 births 1918 deaths English composers 19th-century English musicians People from Ightham