organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...
and composer.
Life
He was born at
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
on 29 March 1816, a son of John Elvey.
For several generations, his family had been connected with the musical life of the cathedral city.
At an early age, he was admitted as a chorister of Canterbury Cathedral, under Highmore Skeats, his brother,
Stephen Elvey
Stephen Elvey (1805–1860) was an organist and composer.
Life
Stephen Elvey was the elder brother, and for some time the teacher, of Sir George Elvey. He was born in Canterbury in June 1805, and received his training as a chorister of the cathe ...
, being then master of the boys.
In 1830, Stephen Elvey having been appointed organist of New College, Oxford, George went to reside with him, and completed his musical education under his brother's guidance.
He studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Cipriani Potter and
William Crotch
William Crotch (5 July 177529 December 1847) was an English composer and organist. According to the American musicologist Nicholas Temperley, Crotchwas "a child prodigy without parallel in the history of music", and was certainly the most dist ...
.
Before he was seventeen, he had become an expert organist and took temporary duty at Christ Church, Magdalen, and New College.
In 1834, he gained the Gresham gold medal for his anthem "Bow down Thine ear, Lord." In 1835, he succeeded Skeats as organist of
St. George's Chapel, Windsor
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...
Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar
Prince William Augustus Edward of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, , PC(Ire) (11 October 1823 – 16 November 1902) was a British military officer of German parents. After a career in the Grenadier Guards, he became Major General commanding the Brigade o ...
, for whose confirmation he composed his well-known anthem, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?"
He matriculated from New College on 17 May 1838 and graduated Mus. Bac. on 2 June following, his exercise being an oratorio, "The Resurrection and Ascension," afterwards performed by the Sacred Harmonic Society at
Exeter Hall
Exeter Hall was a large public meeting place on the north side of the Strand in central London, opposite where the Savoy Hotel now stands. From 1831 until 1907 Exeter Hall was the venue for many great gatherings by promoters of human bettermen ...
(12 November 1838), and subsequently at
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, United States of America, and at
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
.
On 2 July 1840, by a special dispensation of the chancellor of the university, Elvey graduated Mus. Doc. two years earlier than was allowed by the statutes.
His exercise on this occasion was the anthem, "The ways of Zion do mourn."
Two anthems, with orchestral accompaniments, "The Lord is King," and "Sing, Heavens," were written respectively for the Gloucester festival of 1853 and the Worcester festival of 1857.
Of his best-known works produced chiefly between 1856 and 1860 many were composed for special services at St. George's Chapel.
By the death of Prince Albert in 1861, Elvey lost one of his most sympathetic patrons.
The funeral anthems, "The Souls of the Righteous" and "Blessed are the Dead," were both written for anniversary services in memory of the prince.
For the marriage of the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
(1863) he composed a special anthem, with organ and orchestral accompaniment, "Sing unto God," and for the marriage of Princess Louise (1871) a festal march which attained considerable popularity.
He was knighted on 24 March 1871. The last important public event in which he took part was the marriage of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany at St. George's Chapel on 6 May 1882.
In June of that year, he resigned his post as organist.
After some years spent in retirement he died at the Towers,
Windlesham
Windlesham is a village in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England, approximately south west of central London. Its name derives from the Windle Brook, which runs south of the village into Chobham, and the common suffix 'ham', the Old Engli ...
, on 9 September 1893.
Family
Elvey married first, on 19 June 1838, Harriette, daughter of his tutor, Highmore Skeats, and by her, on 30 December 1851, had issue: one son, George Highmore Elvey (died 1875). He married secondly, on 22 August 1854, Georgiana, daughter of
John Bowyer Nichols
John Bowyer Nichols (1779–1863) was an English printer and antiquary.
Life
The eldest son of John Nichols, by his second wife, Martha Green (1756–1788), he was born at Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street, London, on 15 July 1779. He spent his ...
, and by her had issue: three sons and one daughter; she died on 22 December 1863. He married thirdly, on 20 April 1865, Eleanora Grace, daughter of Richard Jarvis; she died on 23 January 1879. He married fourthly, on 20 June 1882, Mary Savory (born 1848), a sister of Sir Joseph Savory; she survived him. Their son was
Handel Elvey
Reverend George Frederick Handel Elvey (29 June 1883 – 20 March 1967) was a croquet player from England. He was the youngest son of composer George Elvey and his fourth wife Mary née Savory.
Handel Elvey won the Doubles Championship in 1936 p ...
.
Legacy
Elvey was a prolific writer of church music. Besides the anthems already mentioned, his chants, his "Cantate Domino," a "Deus misereatur" in D, were among his most popular compositions. He also wrote fifteen part songs, an introduction and gavotte for piano and violin, and four pianoforte pieces.
His works, which are nearly all for the Church, include two
oratorio
An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...
s, a great number of anthems and services, psalm chants and some pieces for the organ. His most famous work is probably the hymn tune ''Diademata'', to which "
Crown Him with Many Crowns
"Crown Him with Many Crowns" is an 1851 hymn with lyrics written by Matthew Bridges and Godfrey Thring and sung to the tune 'Diademata' by Sir George Job Elvey. The hymn appears in many hymnals.
The full twelve verses of the song (which has two- ...
" and "
Soldiers of Christ, Arise
"Soldiers of Christ, Arise" is an 18th-century English hymn. The words were written by Charles Wesley (1707–1788),
A memoir of him, by his widow, was published in 1894.