William Wallace Gilchrist Sr.

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William Wallace Gilchrist (born January 8, 1846 in Jersey City , New Jersey , † December 20, 1916 ) was an American composer.

Gilchrist came to Philadelphia as a child , where he studied with Hugh Archibald Clarke from 1865 to 1868 . At this time he also performed as a baritone soloist at Holy Trinity Church and St. Mark's Church and appeared in operettas given in the Amateur Drawing Room .

In 1874 he became organist and choirmaster at St. Clement's Church . In the same year he founded the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia , an association for the performance of musical works, which began as an eight-part male choir, but was soon expanded to include female voices and instruments. In addition, Gilchrist led other choirs and was organist at the Christ Church in Germantown (Philadelphia) and at times at the Church of the New Jerusalem .

He was a founding member of the American Guild of Organists and the Music Manuscript Society and founded the Symphony Society of Philadelphia in 1893 , which he directed until 1899. He also taught voice training at the Philadelphia Musical Academy .

Gilchrist composed two symphonies , choral works and chamber music . At the Cincinnati May Festival in 1882, whose jury Camille Saint-Saëns , Carl Reinecke and Theodore Thomas formed, he received the first prize for the setting of the 46th Psalm. In 1898 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

His son William Wallace Gilchrist, Jr. became known as a painter.

literature

  • Martha Furman Schleifer: William Wallace Gilchrist (1846-1916): A Moving Force in the Musical Life of Philadelphia . Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey 1985, ISBN 0-8108-1784-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography on Music Of Yesterday
  2. ^ Members: William Wallace Gilchrist. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed March 31, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Gilchrist, William Wallace Sr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gilchrist, William Wallace
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American composer
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH Jersey City , New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH December 20, 1916