Frederick Joseph William Crowe (1862–1931) was an English organist. Frederick Crowe was a

chorister A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

and then Assistant Organist of

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a ...

. He became Organist of St. Mary Magdelene,

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, in 1890. A man of wide and varied interests, Crowe taught at Bishop Otter College of Education and at Chichester School in the Pallants. He was a committed

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;

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and

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also occupied his time. In 1904 he founded a

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

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, and later that year was centrally involved in bringing together in

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

the choirs of

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

and

for a special service to mark the re-opening of the main organ after its

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

by Hele of Plymouth (this was the start of the Three Choirs Festival, now known as

Southern Cathedrals Festival The Southern Cathedrals Festival (known for short as "SCF") is a 5-day music festival held in rotation among the cathedrals of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury in England, in the penultimate week of July. The festival was restored in 1960 aft ...

). The gatherings continued until

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, resumed from 1920 and again from 1960 onwards. It was possibly because of Crowe's

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connections that Hele was selected to carry out the work on the organ in 1904. He became a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1906. Crowe's

salary A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. ...

on appointment was £150; this had risen to £200 by the time he retired, but Frederick Read was reappointed at £160. Crowe was buried at St. Mary's Church, Rumboldswhyke. In Chichester, a

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to him is placed in the north

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

of the

. An Evening Service in E flat survives.Organs and Organists of Chichester Cathedral
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowe, Frederick 1862 births 1931 deaths English organists British male organists Academics of the University of Chichester Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Organists & Masters of the Choristers of Chichester Cathedral Place of birth missing Male classical organists