Walter Greatorex (30 March 1877 – 29 December 1949) was an English

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

. He is probably best remembered for his

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

''Woodlands'' which has been used with hymns such as

Henry Montagu Butler Henry Montagu Butler (2 July 1833 – 14 January 1918) was an English academic and clergyman, who served as headmaster of Harrow School (1860–85), Dean of Gloucester (1885–86) and List of Masters of Trinity College, Cambridge, Master of Tr ...

's ''

Lift Up Your Hearts! Lift up your hearts! is an England, English hymn written in 1881 by the Anglican academic and clergyman Henry Montagu Butler, H. Montagu Butler. The words echo the English translation of the Sursum corda, a part of the communion liturgy in Chris ...

'', '' Far round the world thy children sing their song'' by Basil Joseph Mathews and

Timothy Dudley-Smith Timothy Dudley-Smith (born 26 December 1926) is a retired bishop of the Church of England and a noted English hymnwriter. He has written around 400 hymns, including " Tell Out, my Soul". Life, education and ministry Dudley-Smith was born on 26 ...

's '' Tell Out, My Soul''.

Education

Born in

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, the son of a bank manager, from 1888 to 1893 Greatorex was a boy chorister at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

. He was then educated at

Derby School Derby School was a school in Derby in the English Midlands from 1160 to 1989. It had an almost continuous history of education of over eight centuries. For most of that time it was a grammar school for boys. The school became co-educational an ...

and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. ''Lift up your hearts'' to his music became the school hymn of Derby School.

Career

In 1900, he was appointed an assistant music master at

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson (rector), Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oa ...

. In 1911, he became Director of Music at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...

, Holt, succeeding his fellow Old Derbeian Geoffrey Shaw, and remained at Gresham's for the rest of his working life, until he retired in 1949. In 1916 he composed his most famous work, the hymn tune ''Woodlands'', written for the Gresham's School choir, later published in ''The Public School Hymn Book''. ''Handbook to the Hymnal'' (1946), p. 163 During his long career he also composed other hymns and organ music. Greatorex was known at Gresham's as 'Gog' or 'Greatoxe', and among those he taught at the school were

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

(a boarder from 1928 to 1930), Sir Lennox Berkeley and

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

. Auden wrote of him that

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schwei ...

played the organ no better than Walter Greatorex. In July 1949, Greatorex retired to

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, where he lived in an hotel for a few months until his death in December of the same year.

In popular culture

The

cold open A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In Ameri ...

of BBC television's ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel McC ...

'' episode '' Suffer the Children'' uses ''Far round the world'' with tune ''Woodlands'', first sung solo by

boy treble A boy soprano (British and especially North American English) or boy treble (only British English) is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range, a range that is often still called the treble voice range (in North Americ ...

''Billy'' (Jack Finerty), who is then joined by the catholic school choir which mixes to a young

gospel choir Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

to provide the only link between the two otherwise separate stories interwoven in this episode.

Notes

References

* *''The Music of the English Church'' by Kenneth R. Long (Hodder and Stoughton, 1972) * ''I Will Plant Me a Tree: an Illustrated History of Gresham's School'' (James & James, London, 2002)

External links

The Name of GreatorexGreatorex at Presto Classical
1877 births 1949 deaths English schoolteachers English composers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge People educated at Gresham's School People educated at Derby School People from Mansfield {{UK-composer-stub