Henry Hiles (31 December 1826 – 20 October 1904) was an English

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, writer, and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

Life

He was born in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, Hiles was the youngest of six sons. His eldest brother, John Hiles, was known as an arranger of organ music and for authoring several

catechisms A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

. He began studying the piano at the age of 4 and began studying the organ just a few years later. He studied at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

where he earned

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...

and

Doctor of Music The Doctor of Music degree (D.Mus., D.M., Mus.D. or occasionally Mus.Doc.) is a higher doctorate awarded on the basis of a substantial portfolio of compositions and/or scholarly publications on music. Like other higher doctorates, it is granted b ...

degrees. In 1892, he founded the Society of Professional Musicians. He held a number of church posts during his career, including serving as organist at the parish church at

Bury, Lancashire Bury ( ) is a market town on the River Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. Metropolitan Borough of Bury is administered from the town, which had an estimated population of 78,723 in 2015. The town is within the Historic counties of Englan ...

(1845-47); Bishop Wearmouth; St Michael Wood Street, London (1859); St Thomas',

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

, Manchester (1859-61); Bowdon parish church, Cheshire (1861-63); and St Paul's,

Hulme Hulme () is an inner city area and Ward (politics), electoral ward of Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, the nam ...

, Manchester (1863-67). He was a frequent contributor of articles to '' The Quarterly Musical Review'' for which he was also editor and propieter from 1885-1888. He taught for many years on the music faculty of the

Royal Manchester College of Music The Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM) was a tertiary level conservatoire in Manchester, north-west England. It was founded in 1893 by the German-born conductor Sir Charles Hallé in 1893. In 1972, the Royal Manchester College of Music a ...

where among his notable pupils was composer Leo Smith. His compositions include oratorios and cantatas including ''David'' (1860), ''The Patriarchs'' (1866), ''Watchfulness'', ''Fayre Pastoral'' and ''The Crusaders''.Scholes, Percy A. ''The Mirror of Music'' (1947), p. 91 On 20 October 1904 at age 77, he died at Worthing, England.

Family

He married: first to Fanny Lockyer, and second to Isabel Higham. They had sons and one daughter.

References

Sources

1826 births 1904 deaths Alumni of Magdalen Hall, Oxford English composers English organists British male organists 19th-century English musicians 19th-century British male musicians Oratorio composers 19th-century organists {{UK-composer-stub