Thomas Richard Gonsalvez Jozé, known as T. R. G. Jozé (26 September 1853 – 20 March 1924), was an Irish organist, teacher, choral conductor and composer who was mainly associated with the Royal Irish Academy of Music where he taught for about 45 years.

Life

T. R. G. Jozé was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

into a music loving family of Spanish origin. His father John Charles was a chemist and amateur musician who in 1861 sent his son to Christ Church school to become a chorister. He was appointed deputy organist there in 1869, followed by appointments at

St Paul's Church, Glenageary St Paul's Church in Glenageary, County Dublin is a large parish of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough of the Church of Ireland. The building itself is a large one in the Gothic Revival style. The church has had a distinguished history of b ...

; Christ Church, Leeson Park; and Booterstown Church. He was also the organist at the Freemasons'

Grand Lodge of Ireland The Grand Lodge of Ireland is the second most senior Grand Lodge of Freemasons in the world, and the oldest in continuous existence. Since no specific record of its foundation exists, 1725 is the year celebrated in Grand Lodge anniversaries, as ...

on Dawson Street, Dublin.Parker (2013), p. 550. Besides his activities as an organist, Jozé is mainly remembered today for his long association in a number of functions with the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in Dublin. There, he taught the piano (1872–1882), organ (1880–1917), and harmony (1876–1918), conducted the choir (1883–1885) and the orchestra (1891–1915) while also sharing chamber music classes (1892–1899) with Charles Marchant. His pupils included Annie W. Patterson. Other choral societies he conducted in Dublin and its suburbs included the Corinthian Club, the Kingstown Philharmonic Society, the Leeson Park Choral Society, the Sackville Hall Choral Society, the Sandymount Choral Union, and the Strollers' Club.

Music

As a composer, Jozé wrote in numerous forms ranging from large-scale cantatas and stage works to choral, chamber and organ music, mostly with a focus on vocal music. In 1873, he received a first prize from the

Hibernian Catch Club The Hibernian Catch Club is a dining club, dining and Catch (music), catch musical club founded c.1680 in Dublin, Ireland by the Lay clerk, vicars-choral of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Christ Church and St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, St. Patr ...

for his

glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

''Soldier, rest!''. Another prize-winning work was the "festival hymn" ''St Patrick's Breastplate''. In 1877, Jozé received a doctorate of music (MusD) from Trinity College Dublin for his cantata ''The Prophecy of Capys''. Although he "did not enjoy huge success as a composer", his large works did have performances, and much of his piano and choral music was published. Much of Jozé's music fulfilled a contemporary demand for arrangements of Irish traditional melodies for small vocal ensembles, mainly partsongs for four voices. Some of these were set to words by

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

, Alfred Perceval Graves and

George Sigerson George Sigerson (11 January 1836 – 17 February 1925) was an Irish physician, scientist, writer, politician and poet. He was a leading light in the Irish Literary Revival of the late 19th century in Ireland. Doctor and scientist Sigerson was b ...

. Publishers included Pigott in Dublin and Boosey in London. Pine (1998) described this approach to Irish traditional music as "cursory or ill-informed".Richard Pine, Charles Acton (eds), ''To Talent Alone. The Royal Irish Academy of Music, 1848–1998'' (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1998), p. 185.

Selected works

Stage works

* ''The Prophecy of Capys'' (1877), cantata for tenor, choir and orchestra * ''Les Amourettes'' (1885), opera * ''Eileen, or The Ocean Waif'' (n. d.), operetta

Orchestral

* ''Gavotte and Musette'' (n. d.) * ''Grand March'' (n. d.)

Chamber

* Nocturne in G minor (1892), for violin and piano * ''Five Irish Melodies'' (1899), for violin/cello and piano (written with R. P. Stewart)

Choral

Sacred

* ''O God, Who Hast Prepared for Them That Love Thee'', anthem (published Dublin, 1920) * ''Praise the Lord, O My Soul'', anthem (n. d.) * ''The Lord Is My Shepherd'', anthem for female voices (n. d.) * ''Te Deum & Benedictus'' (n. d.) * ''Hymn to St Cecilia'', for female voices, harp, violins and organ (n. d.)

Secular

* ''Arranmore Boat Song'' ( Alfred Perceval Graves), 4-part song (London, 1901) * ''Battlesong 'The Defence of Dublin (

), 4-part song (London, 1901) * ''Far Away (A Londonderry Air)'' (G. Sigerson), 4-part song (London, 1901) * ''The Irish Reel'' (A. P. Graves), 4-part song (London, 1901) * ''The Harvest Rose'', Irish Air ( Patrick Joseph McCall), partsong (London, 1902) * ''A Lament'', Irish Melody (

), partsong (London, 1902) * ''O'Sullivan Mór'', Irish Air (G. Sigerson), partsong (London, 1902) * ''When Thro' Life Unblest We Rove'', Irish Melody (T. Moore) partsong (London, 1902) * ''After the Battle / Thy Fair Bosom'' (T. Moore), partsong (London, 1903) * ''The Capture of Cremona / The Monks of the Screw'' (G. Sigerson), partsong (London, 1903) * ''Fly Not Yet / Planxty Kelly'' (T. Moore), partsong (London, 1903) * Twas One of Those Dreams / The Song of the Woods'' (T. Moore), partsong (London, 1903) * ''War Song of Macliag'', partsong (London, c1904) * ''Irish Partsongs and Choruses'', arr. (London, 1899–1913)

Songs

* ''The Frost and the Footprints'' (R. M. Craig) (London,

876 __NOTOC__ Year 876 ( DCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * At the invitation of Benevento, the newly-restored Byzantine fleet appe ...

* ''In Memoriam (Sir Robert Stewart)'' (G. Savage Armstrong) (c.1894) * ''A Sunbeam Messenger'' (H. Crewe) (London, 1897) * ''The Fisherman's Widow'' (n. d.), with violin obbligato * ''Sleep, My Love, Sleep'' (n. d.), with cello obbligato

Church hymnals

* ''Chants and Responses'' (Dublin, 1907), with

George William Torrance George William Torrance (25 July 1835 – 20 August 1907) was an Irish composer, mainly of church music, who was resident in Australia for many years. Early life Torrance was born in Rathmines, Dublin and became a choirboy at Christ Church Cath ...

* ''The Irish Chant Book'' (Dublin, 1925), with G. W. Torrance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joze, T. R. G. 1853 births 1924 deaths 19th-century Irish classical composers 20th-century Irish classical composers Irish classical composers of church music Composers for pipe organ Irish choral conductors Irish male classical composers Irish opera composers Irish male organists Irish people of Spanish descent Musicians from Dublin (city) 19th-century Irish organists 20th-century Irish organists