Godfrey Sampson (1 June 1902 - 21 June 1949) was an English composer and organist, best remembered for his church and choral music. Sampson was born in Gloucester, the son of a clergyman, and attended

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

. From 1920 he studied composition at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

under

Benjamin Dale Benjamin James Dale (17 July 188530 July 1943) was an English composer and academic who had a long association with the Royal Academy of Music. Dale showed compositional talent from an early age and went on to write a small but notable corpus of ...

, where he was Goring Thomas scholar in 1924, and where he also won a

Mendelssohn Scholarship The Mendelssohn Scholarship (german: Mendelssohn-Stipendium) refers to two scholarships awarded in Germany and in the United Kingdom. Both commemorate the composer Felix Mendelssohn, and are awarded to promising young musicians to enable them to co ...

in 1927. In 1932 he became a professor of composition there. While still a student Sampson composed a Cello Sonata that was performed by Douglas Cameron and Harry Isaacs at

Grotrian Hall Grotrian Hall was a London concert venue from 1925 until 1938, located at 15 Seymour Street, Portman Square, London. Originally the lecture theatre of the Marylebone Literary and Scientific Institution (1833–1869) and then the home of the Quebe ...

Wigmore Street Wigmore Street is a street in the City of Westminster, in the West End of London. The street runs for about 600 yards parallel and to the north of Oxford Street between Portman Square to the west and Cavendish Square to the east. It is named afte ...

in 1926. This was followed by the Symphony in D, which was premiered at the Royal Academy in 1927 and repeated 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 Hal ...

in 1928, conducted by the composer. Isaacs was also the soloist in Sampson's ''Symphonic Variations'' for piano and orchestra, broadcast on 8 June 1932 by the

BBC Orchestra BBC Orchestras and Singers refers collectively to a number of orchestras, choirs and other musical ensembles, maintained by the BBC. Current operation All of the BBC’s Orchestras and Singers record performances primarily for BBC Radio 3, with ...

, conducted by

Victor Hely-Hutchinson Christian Victor Noel Hope Hely-Hutchinson (26 December 1901 – 11 March 1947) was a British composer, conductor, pianist and music administrator. He is best known for the ''Carol Symphony'' and for humorous song-settings.Hurd, Michael'Hely ...

. However, most of his output in the 1930s consisted of short choral works, regularly published by

Novello Novello may refer to: Places * Novello, Piedmont, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cuneo, Italy * Novello Theatre, a theatre in the City of Westminster, London, England People Given name * Clara Novello Davies (1861–1943), Welsh singer, named af ...

. A recital of his vocal and choral music was broadcast by BBC Radio on 23 June 1935, conducted by

Leslie Woodgate Hubert Leslie Woodgate (15 April 190018 May 1961) was an English choral conductor, composer, and writer of books on choral music. He was born in London, and educated at Westminster School and the Royal College of Music. During the 1920s, he was ...

. Sampson returned to larger form composition towards the end of his life with the ''Suite for Strings'' (1946), and a 15-minute setting of Edgar Allen Poe's ''The Bells'' for eight part choir and orchestra (1946). In the 1920s, Sampson was an organist at his father's church, St Paul's, New Beckenham, Kent. He later played the organ and conducted the choir at Claygate Parish Church while teaching at nearby Milbourne Lodge School. He served in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

between 1942 and 1945. He was the teacher and close friend of composer Bruce Montgomery who, under the pen-name Edmund Crispin, based the character of Geoffrey Vintner on him in '' Holy Disorders'' (1945).Whittle, David.
Bruce Montgomery/Edmund Crispin: A Life in Music and Books
' (2008) The novel ''Swan Song'' (1946) is dedicated to him. He died in Claygate, aged 47, from

malignant hypertension A hypertensive emergency is very high blood pressure with potentially life-threatening symptoms and signs of acute damage to one or more organ systems (especially brain, eyes, heart, aorta, or kidneys). It is different from a hypertensive urgency ...

Works

Choral * ''Ah My Dear Angrie Lord'', chorus and piano * ''Awake My Soul'' (text: Bishop Ken), SATB chorus and organ (1939) * ''Benedicite Omnia Opera'', SATB chorus * ''Come My Way, My Truth, My Life'' (text:

George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devoti ...

) SATB chorus and organ * ''The God of Love My Shepherd Is'', SATB choir (1932) * ''Lover's Lament'', part song (1938) * ''Madrigal'' for 2 sopranos, alto and piano, words Christopher Marlowe (1930) * ''My Boy Tammy'' (text:

Hector Macneill Hector Macneill (22 October 1746 – 15 March 1818) was a Scottish poet born near Roslin, Midlothian, Scotland. Macneill had been the son of a poor army captain and went to work as a clerk in 1760 at the age of fourteen. Soon, he was sent to th ...

), mixed voices (1938) * ''My Song Shall Be Always'', SATB chorus (1937) * ''Our Times Are in Thy Hands'', chorus and organ (1940) * ''O Ye Who Bear Christ's Holy Name'', chorus and organ (1940) * ''There is a Blessed Home'', SATB chorus and organ * ''To Meadows'' (text: Robert Herrick), three part song for female voices (1931) * ''Weep you no more, sad fountains'', for female voices * ''We Prey Thee, Heavenly Father'' (text: V S S Coles), anthem for SATB choir and organ (1930) Unison and solo song * ''The Constant Lover'' (text: John Suckling), solo song * ''Daybreak'' (text:

Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

), unison song * ''In Youth is Pleasure'' (text:

Robert Wever Robert Wever was an English poet and dramatist of the sixteenth century (''floruit'' c. 1550) about whom little biographical information seems to have survived. His name is often given as Richard Wever or simply R. Wever. ''An Enterlude called lus ...

), solo song * ''Peace be With You, Shepherd's All'', carol (1931) * ''She walks in beauty'', (text:

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

), solo song * ''There Rolls the Deep'' (text:

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

), unison song * ''Willie drowned in Yarrow'', solo song Instrumental * ''Badajoz'', for violin and piano (1936) * Cello Sonata (1926) * ''Dance Tune'', for piano * ''Pastoral Tune'' for violin and piano (1936) (also transcribed for organ) Orchestral * ''The Bells'' (text: Edgar Allan Poe), for double SATB chorus and orchestra (1946) * ''Suite for Strings'' (1946) * ''Symphonic Variations'', for piano and orchestra (1932) * Symphony in D (1928) * ''Three Fragments'', for orchestra (1949) Dramatic * ''The Witch's Charm'', operetta (1922)''Daily Telegraph'', 5 December 1922, p.9

References

External links

Recording of ''Pastoral Tune'' for organ

Recording of ''My Song Shall Be Always''
Riverside Choir, Gothic G4931 (2011)
Performance of ''Our Times Are in Thy Hands''
Third Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh {{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Godfrey 20th-century classical composers 1902 births 1949 deaths Male classical composers Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music British classical composers 20th-century British male musicians