James Edward Adkins FRCO (14 Dec 1867 - 4 January 1939) was an Irish organist and composer.

Background

He was born on 14 December 1867 in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, the son of James Adkins and Emma Ryan. He studied at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

and trained at

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The presen ...

under the organist, Edmund Thomas Chipp. He married Louisa Day on 29 July 1889 in Richmond Upon Thames. They had three children: *Edith Grace Adkins b.1890 *Edouardine Adkins b.1892 *James Francis Basil Adkins 1899 - 1917 *Eric Alan Edward Adkins 1904 - 1982 His son James Francis Basil Adkins, a Private in the 2nd Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment, was killed in Flanders on 1 Oct 1917. His other son Eric was also a fine musician. Both Basil and Eric were st Paul's Cathedral choir boys. Whilst in Preston he was conductor of the Preston Amateur Operatic Society 1895 - 1901, Conductor of Chorley Choral Society, 1890 – 1891, and Conductor of Preston Choral Society, 1905 - 1907. He died on 4 January 1939 in

Amounderness The Amounderness Hundred () is one of the six subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, but the name is older than the system of hundreds first recorded in the 13th century and might best be described as the name ...

, Lancashire.

Appointments

*Organist at St. Anne's Church, Wandsworth *Organist at All Saints' Church, Grosvenor Road, London *Organist at St. Stephen's Church, East Twickenham *Organist at

St. George's Church, Esher St George's Church, Esher is a Grade I listed Anglican church in Esher, Surrey, England. Built in the 16th century, it was Esher's parish church for 300 years, though later worshippers included Queen Victoria. However, by the mid-19th century ...

*Organist at Preston Parish Church 1890 – 1912

Publications

*Preston Parish Church: its organists, choir, and organs, 1574-1915.

Compositions

He composed *Magnificat and nunc dimittis in D 1898 *Tears, idle Tears. Four-Part Song for mixed voices 1908 *Magnificat and nunc dimittis for men's voices 1910 *Magnificat and nunc dimittis in G 1911 *Magnficat for treble voices 1911 *Te Deum for treble voices 1911 *Te Deum in G 1911 *Jubilate in G 1911 *''Hibernia'' (Overture) Adagio & Allegretto from the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1. J. S. Bach. Arrangement 1923Boosey & Co ASIN: B0000CS3XJ

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adkins, James Edward 1867 births 1939 deaths Fellows of the Royal College of Organists Classical organists from Northern Ireland Musicians from Belfast British male classical organists