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Frederick Charles Haggis (22 April 1886 – 2 December 1976) was a British conductor and founder of the Goldsmiths Choral Union, for which he was principal conductor and musical director for forty years.
He founded the Streatham School of Music in 1919 and conducted the Streatham Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, producing and conducting the first performances of the Nativity play
. It continued to rehearse and perform in London during the
Frederick Charles Haggis (22 April 1886 – 2 December 1976) was a British conductor and founder of the Goldsmiths Choral Union, for which he was principal conductor and musical director for forty years.
He founded the Streatham School of Music in 1919 and conducted the Streatham Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, producing and conducting the first performances of the Nativity play Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
by Rutland Boughton
Rutland Boughton (23 January 187825 January 1960) was an English composer who became well known in the early 20th century as a composer of opera and choral music. He was also an influential communist activist within the Communist Party of Gre ...
in London in 1924.
Haggis founded the Goldsmiths Choral Union (GCU) at Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
in 1932 and the Goldsmiths Symphony Orchestra in the following year. Over the next two decades under Haggis, the GCU moved to the forefront of the classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
scene in London, performing with major symphony orchestras and broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...
frequently for the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
despite the College being evacuated and its buildings requisitioned. The GCU performed works by the English composer Sir George Dyson such as ''The Canterbury Pilgrims'' in 1939 and ''Quo Vadis'' in 1945.
After the war, he was presented with an inscribed silver bowl by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths
The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of Londo ...
"In recognition of his outstanding contribution to choral singing in London during the war".
He retired from conducting in 1971 at the age of 85 with a celebratory concert at the Royal Albert Hall, conducting the GCU in a performance of ''The Dream of Gerontius
''The Dream of Gerontius'', Op. 38, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment b ...
'' by Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
. In 1973 he retired as Music Director.
Clarinettist Jack Brymer pays tribute to Haggis' training in his book ''From Where I Sit''. His name is included in the book of remembrance in the Friends of the Musicians Chapel at the Musicians Church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate
Holy Sepulchre London, formerly and in some official uses Saint Sepulchre-without-Newgate, is the largest Anglican parish church in the City of London. It stands on the north side of Holborn Viaduct across a crossroads from the Old Bailey, and ...
, Holborn.
References
English choral conductors British male conductors (music) 20th-century British conductors (music) 1886 births 1976 deaths 20th-century English musicians 20th-century British male musicians {{UK-conductor-stub