Sir Walter Galpin Alcock (29 December 186111 September 1947) was an English organist and composer. He held a number of prominent positions as an organist and played at the coronations of three monarchs. He was professor of organ in 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 ...
, London.
Life and career
Alcock was born at
Edenbridge, Kent
Edenbridge is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Sevenoaks (district), Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. Its name derives from Old English ''Eadhelmsbrigge'' (meaning "Eadhelm's Bridge"). It is located on the border of ...
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
and the organ with
John Stainer
Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of ''The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some churches of the Anglican Communi ...
."Obituary – Sir Walter Alcock", ''The Times'', 12 September 1947, p. 7
After a brief series of posts (
Holy Trinity Sloane Street
The Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity with Saint Jude, Upper Chelsea, commonly called Holy Trinity Sloane Street or Holy Trinity Sloane Square, is a Church of England parish church in London, England. It was built in 1888–90 at the ...
and
St. Margaret's, Westminster
The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster ...
), in 1893 he was appointed Organ Professor 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 ...
. He was assistant organist of
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
from 1896, and was concurrently organist of the
Chapels Royal
The Chapel Royal is an establishment in the Royal Household serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the British Royal Family. Historically it was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarch. The term is now also appl ...
from 1902. In 1916 he became organist of
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The buildi ...
where he oversaw a strictly faithful restoration of the famous
Father Willis
Henry Willis (27 April 1821 – 11 February 1901), also known as "Father" Willis, was an English organ player and builder, who is regarded as the foremost organ builder of the Victorian era. His company Henry Willis & Sons remains in busin ...
organ,Webb, Stanley and Paul Hale "Alcock, Sir Walter" Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, accessed 1 March 2012 even going to such lengths as to refuse to allow parts of the instrument to leave the cathedral in case any unauthorised tonal alteration were made without his knowledge while allowing some discreet additions in the original style of the organ (as well as modernisation of the organ's actions) by Henry Willis III, the grandson of Father Willis.
Alcock had the unique distinction of playing the organ at Westminster Abbey at the coronations of three kings:
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
(1902),
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
(1911) and
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...
Sir Frederick Bridge
Sir John Frederick Bridge (5 December 1844 – 18 March 1924) was an English organist, composer, teacher and writer.
From a musical family, Bridge became a church organist before he was 20, and he achieved his ambition to become a cathedral ...
, who had been appointed to the role in 1888.
Alcock was knighted in 1933 for services to music. He was a distinguished teacher, whose published material for organ students is still thought valuable. Among his notable pupils were
Edward Bairstow
Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow (22 August 18741 May 1946) was an English organist and composer in the Anglican church music tradition.
Life and career
Bairstow was born in Trinity Street, Huddersfield in 1874. His grandfather Oates Bairstow was ...
,
Ralph Downes
Ralph William Downes CBE KSG (16 August 1904 – 24 December 1993) was an English organist, organ designer, teacher and music director and was Professor of Organ in the Royal College of Music.
Biography
Downes was born in Derby and studied ...
, and
S. Drummond Wolff
Stanley Drummond Wolff (4 February 1916 – 9 April 2004) was an English organist, choirmaster, composer, and music educator who was primarily active in North America. His compositional output primarily consists of anthems for choir and works for ...
.
His hobbies included the construction of a model railway, on which choirboys at Salisbury would be given rides.
Alcock died at the age of 85. His funeral service was in Salisbury Cathedral.
In an obituary tribute
Sir Thomas Armstrong
Sir Thomas Armstrong (c. 1633, Nijmegen – 20 June 1684, London) was an English army officer and Member of Parliament executed for treason.Richard L. Greaves, Armstrong, Sir Thomas (bap. 1633, d. 1684), Oxford Dictionary of National Biograp ...
wrote of "his firm foundations of good musicianship and sound tradition" and added:
Family
Walter Galpin Alcock was the son of Walter William Alcock and Mary Galpin. In 1871 Walter William was the superintendent of the Metropolitan Police Orphanage at Fortescue House, Twickenham.
In 1893 Alcock married Naomi Blanche Lucas. They had one son and five daughters. The eldest daughter, Naomi Judith, married Dingwall Bateson in 1922."Obituary – Sir Dingwall Bateson", ''The Times'', 31 January 1967, p. 12