Herbert Sanders (20 September 1878 – 18 May 1938) was a Canadian

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, conductor, composer, music 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 ...

of English birth. His compositions include numerous sacred songs, anthems, and organ works. He twice won the

American Guild of Organists The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educat ...

's Clemson Gold Medal for composition. The Canadian Musical Heritage Society recently reprinted seven of his

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 ''hy ...

s and the anthem ''Light's Glittering Morn''. Several of his compositions are in the Catalogue of Printed Music at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

in London, and many of his original manuscripts are in the collection at the Library and Archives Canada.

Life and career

Born in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

, Sanders studied at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

(RCM) with

Charles Swinnerton Heap Charles Swinnerton Heap (10 April 1847 – 11 June 1900) was an English organist, pianist, composer and conductor. Life Heap was born in Birmingham in 1847 and educated at the town's King Edward VI School, where he studied the organ under Walt ...

(organ), Charles H. Kitson (theory), and Charles W. Perkins (organ). After graduating from the RCM with an associates diploma in 1896, he served as the organist at Camphill Presbyterian Church in Birmingham. He left there after a few years to work in the same capacity at St Mary's Methodist Church in Truro, Cornwall. He also played the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

in a number of orchestras while living in England. In 1907 Sanders emigrated to Canada to assume the post of organist at Chalmers' Presbyterian in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. He left there after just one year to assume a similar role at the Dominion Methodist Church in Ottawa where he remained until 1929. While there he toured extensively throughout Canada as an organ recitalist and accompanist and served as the director of the Ottawa Oratorio Society. He was also president of the Ottawa Arts and Letters Club and worked for the '' Ottawa Journal'' as a music critic. He was hired by Harry Puddicombe to teach at the

Canadian Conservatory of Music The Canadian Conservatory of Music was a music conservatory in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that was actively providing higher education in music during the first half of the 20th century. History Founded by Harry Puddicombe in 1902, the school was loc ...

and he also ran a private teaching studio. Among his pupils were

Kenneth Meek Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byna ...

, Charles O'Neill, and Bill Richards. Sanders relocated to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

in 1929 to become the music director of the newly built Tudor Hall in the J.A. Ogilvy Department Store, a position he held up until his death nine years later. At the hall he performed several noon-time organ recitals every week and also arranged for appearances by other notable artists. In 1932-1933 he was president of the

Royal Canadian College of Organists The Royal Canadian College of Organists (RCCO), founded in 1909, is a national association of organists and church musicians in Canada, with 28 centres from Victoria, British Columbia to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The National Office is ...

(RCCO). During the 1930s he also served as the organist of Westmount Park Melville United Church. He died in Montreal in 1938 at the age of 59. As a writer, Sanders contributed articles to numerous musical journals, including '' Etude'', ''

Musical Quarterly ''The Musical Quarterly'' is the oldest academic journal on music in America. Originally established in 1915 by Oscar Sonneck, the journal was edited by Sonneck until his death in 1928. Sonneck was succeeded by a number of editors, including Car ...

'', and ''

The American Organist The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educat ...

''. He was the associate music editor of ''The Methodist Hymn and Tune Book'' which was published in 1917; also contributing several of his own hymns to the work. He was the editor of the RCCO's bulletin which was printed in '' Musical Canada'' from 1928 to 1933.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Herbert 1878 births 1938 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Music Canadian classical composers Canadian male classical composers Canadian conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Canadian Conservatory of Music faculty Canadian music critics Canadian writers about music Canadian classical organists Male classical organists Canadian classical pianists Male classical pianists Canadian music educators People from Wolverhampton Canadian male pianists