Henry John Gauntlett (9 July 1805 in Wellington, Shropshire – 21 February 1876 in London) was an English

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 ...

and songwriter known in British music circles for his authorship of many

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

s and other pieces for the organ.

Biography

Henry John Gauntlett was born in Britain on 9 July 1805, at Wellington, Shropshire. He became the organist at

Olney Olney may refer to: Places Australia * Olney Parish, New South Wales England * Olney, Buckinghamshire, a town near Milton Keynes, England United States * Olney, Alabama * Olney, Georgia - see List of places in Georgia (U.S. state) (I–R) * Ol ...

church in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, where his father

Henry Gauntlett Henry John Gauntlett (9 July 1805 in Wellington, Shropshire – 21 February 1876 in London) was an English organist and songwriter known in British music circles for his authorship of many hymns and other pieces for the organ. Biography Henr ...

was then curate, and later vicar, at the age of nine. He was intended for a career in law, and he remained a lawyer until he was almost forty years of age, when he abandoned the profession and devoted himself to music. He was organist at a number of leading London churches, including St Olave's in Tooley Street, Southwark from 1827 to 1846, where he designed a new grand organ which was built, installed and perfected to his satisfaction between 1844 and March 1846, and Union Chapel, Islington from 1852 to 1861. Eventually the degree of Mus. Doc. was conferred on him by the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, he being the first to receive such a degree from that quarter for over 200 years. He did much to raise the standard of church music both mechanically and musically. In 1852 he patented an "electrical-action apparatus" for organs. He wrote much music and over 1,000

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

s, and edited many hymn books. His most famous tune is "Irby", the tune to which the Christmas carol, "

Once in Royal David's City Once in Royal David's City is a Christmas carol originally written as a poem by Cecil Frances Alexander. The carol was first published in 1848 in her hymnbook ''Hymns for Little Children''. A year later, the English organist Henry Gauntlett dis ...

" is usually sung. Gauntlett died in London aged seventy in 1876 and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.

Hymns

* hymn tune 'St Alphege' put to words in Latin 'Sic breve vivitur' by Bernard of Cluny. * 'University College'

References

External links

*
Free scores
at the

Mutopia Project The Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books. It started in 2000.Portal page at thInternet ArchiveRetrieved January 24, 20 ...

1805 births 1876 deaths Christian hymnwriters English classical organists British male organists People from Olney, Buckinghamshire People from Wellington, Shropshire Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery 19th-century English musicians 19th-century British male musicians Male classical organists 19th-century organists {{organist-stub