James Kendrick Pyne (5 February 1852 – 3 September 1938) 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 composer.

Biography

He was born in Bath into a musical family. His father, also James Kendrick Pyne (1810–1893) was organist at

Bath Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, it was reorganised in the 10th ...

for 53 years and his grandfather, also James Kendrick Pyne (1788–1857) was a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

. His great uncle George Pyne was an alto singer, and George Pyne's daughters Susan and

Louisa Pyne Louisa Bodda-Pyne (30 April 1828 – 20 March 1904) was an England, English soprano and opera company manager. Biography Life and career Born into a theatrical family as Louisa Fanny Pyne, she was the youngest daughter of the alto George Griggs ...

were both accomplished singers. By the age of 11 he was organist at All Saints' Church, Bath. At the age of 12 his father sent him to study with

Samuel Sebastian Wesley Samuel Sebastian Wesley (14 August 1810 – 19 April 1876) was an English organist and composer. Wesley married Mary Anne Merewether and had 6 children. He is often referred to as S.S. Wesley to avoid confusion with his father Samuel Wesley. Bio ...

, organist at

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

and later

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster dedicated to S ...

. In 1873 he became organist at

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of the ...

. In 1874 he went to the United States to become organist at St. Mark's,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. A year later Pyne returned to England to Manchester where he would become a leading figure in the musical life of the city. He took over the organist position at

Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother ...

and later became organist for the City Corporation. In 1893 he was appointed professor of the organ at 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 ...

and became Dean of the Faculty of Music in 1908. He lived at Milverton Lodge, on Anson Road in

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

, Manchester. He retired from work at the cathedral in 1908 but continued work at the college until 1926 when he retired to

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

where he died in Ilford in 1938."Obituaries, Dr. J. K. Pyne, Distinguished Organist" (5 September 1938) ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', p. 14 Kendrick Pyne married Agnes Ireland, the youngest daughter of General Charles Ireland of the Madras Service Corps. The couple had five sons and four daughters. Pyne's studio 4-manual instrument which was his teaching instrument at the Royal Manchester College of Music is now at

St Peter's Collegiate Church St Peter's Collegiate Church is located in central Wolverhampton, England. For many centuries it was a chapel royal and from 1480 a royal peculiar, independent of the Diocese of Lichfield and even the Province of Canterbury. The collegiate chur ...

Ruthin Ruthin ( ; cy, Rhuthun) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. It is Denbighshire's county town. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and ...

, Denbighshire, and was rebuilt by

Henry Willis & Sons Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other countries. Five generations of the Willis family served as principals of th ...

in 2003.

Works

Compositions include: *Communion Service in A flat *Collection of songs setting the poems of

Edwin Waugh Edwin Waugh (1817–1890) was an English poet. Life The son of a shoemaker, Waugh was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, England and, after some schooling, was apprenticed to a printer, Thomas Holden, at the age of 12. While still a young man he w ...

Writings

*"Personal recollections of

", ''English Church Music''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyne, James Kendrick 1852 births 1938 deaths Academics of the Royal Northern College of Music English classical organists British male organists Cathedral organists People from Bath, Somerset Organists & Masters of the Choristers of Chichester Cathedral English composers Male classical organists