Wallace Arthur Sabin (December 15, 1869 – December 8, 1937) was a composer and
organist, born in
Culworth
Culworth is a village and civil parish about north of Brackley in West Northamptonshire, England. Culworth is also about northeast of the north Oxfordshire town of Banbury.
The village stands on the brow of a hill about above sea level. The ...
,
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
, England.
[Pratt, Waldo Selden; George Grove; Charles Newell Boyd; John Alexander Fuller-Maitland]
''Grove's dictionary of music and musicians''
Volume Six, 1920, p. 346. He played organ from the age of 13 at various schools and churches in Oxford. He trained in music at Banbury and Oxford, and graduated from the
Royal College of Organists
The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, with members worldwide. Its role is to promote and advance organ playing and choral music, and it offers music education, training and de ...
in 1888.
[Rootsweb. Ancestry.com]
''Wallace Arthur Sabin''
Retrieved on July 4, 2009. In 1890, he became a
fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of that college.
[
In 1894 or '95, Sabin moved 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 ...
to serve as organist for the congregations of Temple Emanu-El and St. Luke's Episcopal Church. He became a fellow 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 ...
(AGO) in 1899.[The San Francisco Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Paul W. Motter]
''Remembering Wallace Sabin''
Retrieved on July 4, 2009. In 1904, he vplayed organ recitals at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. From 1905 until his death, he played the organ for the First Church of Christ, Scientist
The First Church of Christ, Scientist is the administrative headquarters and mother church of the Church of Christ, Scientist, also known as the Christian Science church. Christian Science was founded in the 19th century in Lynn, Massachusetts ...
in San Francisco, and at Temple Emanu-El.[ He was president of the San Francisco Chapter of AGO from 1911 to 1913, then again from 1923 to 1926. He was the chapter's first ]dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
.[
Sabin was married on April 1, 1913 to Kathryn Wells Bader, daughter of the pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church. They had one daughter, Patricia.][
In 1915, Sabin was the official organist of the ]Panama–Pacific International Exposition
The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...
.[ In one concert, he directed the 400-voice Exposition Chorus while playing organ accompaniment, as Camille Saint-Saëns conducted the 80-member orchestra.][
Sabin joined the Bohemian Club, served twice on the board of directors,][ and wrote music for three Grove Plays in 1909, 1918 and 1934. The first two works were written for tenor, baritone, men's chorus and orchestra. He also composed much incidental music for the club.][ He was active in other clubs, including the Berkeley Lodge No. 363, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; the ]Scottish Rite
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States often omits the ''and'', while the English Constitution in the United Kingdom omits the ''Scottish''), commonly known as simply the S ...
Consistory at Oakland (where he earned the 32nd degree), the Sequoia Club in San Francisco; the Athenian-Nile Club in Oakland, and the Faculty Club of the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
.[ He directed the chorus of the San Francisco Musical Club, the Loring Club (men's chorus), the Saturday Morning Orchestra (women's group), the Twentieth Century Music Club, and the Vested Choir Association of San Francisco.][
Sabin set various parts of the Jewish service to music, and is published in ''Stark's Service Book''.][ In 1920 with Edwin H. Lemare and Uda Waldrop, he helped inaugurate the Bohemian Club's outdoor organ, Austin opus 913, set into the main stage at the ]Bohemian Grove
Bohemian Grove is a restricted 2,700-acre (1,100 ha) campground at 20601 Bohemian Avenue, in Monte Rio, California, United States, belonging to a private San Francisco–based gentlemen's club known as the Bohemian Club. In mid-July each year, ...
.[
By 1924, Sabin was living in ]Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
* George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer ...
.[ He died at his home there on December 8, 1937.][ A service was held January 23, 1938 at Grace Cathedral, with a memorial written by Cantor Reuben R. Rinder: "No minister of the Lord ever worshiped at the altar with greater reverence than did Wallace Sabin as he presided at the organ console. ..His music leads us from egoism to love; from the world to the soul; from the soul to God."][
]
Works
*1906 - ''St. Patrick at Tara'', Grove Play[
*1918 - ''The Twilight of the Kings: A Masque of Democracy'', Grove Play][
*''Minuet in D in the style of Handel''][
*''Bourrée in D in the ancient style''][
*''Grand Choeur''][
*''Vierne Symphony No. 3''
]
References
External links
*Stephens, Henry Morse; Wallace Arthur Sabin, Charles Caldwell Dobie, Bohemian Club
''St. Patrick at Tara''
1909 Grove play
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabin, Wallace Arthur
1869 births
1937 deaths
People from West Northamptonshire District
Musicians from San Francisco
Music directors
English choral conductors
British male conductors (music)
English classical composers
English classical organists
English musical theatre composers
English male composers
British performers of Christian music
Classical composers of church music
English emigrants to the United States
American choral conductors
American male conductors (music)
American male classical composers
American classical composers
American classical organists
British male organists
American musical theatre composers
American performers of Christian music
Musicians from Northamptonshire
Classical musicians from California
Male classical organists