Humphrey John Stewart (22 May 1856 – 1932) was an American composer and organist, born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. A native of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, he came to the United States in 1886, and served for many years as a church organist on the West Coast. In 1898, he was awarded a doctorate degree in music from the University of the Pacific. In 1901, he gave a recital in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

and accepted a position at Trinity Church in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, but after two years he returned to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. In 1915, Stewart took a position as organist at the Panama-California Exposition in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, and stayed in that city for many years, playing open-air organ concerts at Balboa Park.Pratt, Waldo Selden; George Grove; Charles Newell Boyd; John Alexander Fuller-Maitland
''Grove's dictionary of music and musicians''
Volume Six, 1920, p. 374. Stewart was a founding member of 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 ...

, and was an honorary lifetime member of the Bohemian Club. In the pages of ''The American Organist'', Stewart wrote in March 1919 about what he called the "Messiah Fallacy", a critical analysis uncomplimentary to Handel's ''Messiah''. Stewart described how the music of the ''Messiah'' was completely incompatible to the sacred nature of the text, except for the ''Hallelujah'' chorus, of which he was non-committal, preferring Beethoven's ''Hallelujah''. A flurry of

letters to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through conventional mai ...

resulted, some critical of Stewart, some supportive of his stance.

Works

Among his works were an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

, two

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

s, three Grove Plays, incidental music for plays, some works for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, choral music, and some songs and instrumental works; he also wrote

church music Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian music The on ...

. *1888 - ''The Nativity'', oratorio (church) *1889 - ''Bluff King Hal'', romantic opera *1890 - ''His Majesty'', comic opera *1899 - ''I behold and lo!'' anthem *1900 - ''The Conspirators'', comic opera *1903 - ''Montezuma'', Grove Play *1906 - ''Scenes in California'', orchestral suite *1906 - ''The Owl and Care'', Grove Play, musical spectacle *1916 - ''Gold'', Grove Play *1924 - ''The Hound of Heaven'', a Musical Drama

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Humphrey John 1856 births 1932 deaths American male classical composers American classical composers American opera composers Musicians from London American classical organists American male organists Balboa Park (San Diego) English emigrants to the United States University of the Pacific (United States) alumni Male classical organists