- Walter Greatorex
Walter Greatorex (
March 30 ,1877 –December 29 ,1949 ) was an Englishcomposer andmusician , probably best remembered for hishymn tune "Woodlands", used for the setting ofHenry Montagu Butler 's hymn "Lift Up Your Hearts! " and more recentlyTimothy Dudley-Smith 's "Tell Out, my Soul ".Education
Born in
Mansfield ,Nottinghamshire , the son of a bank manager, from 1888 to 1893 Greatorex was a boy chorister atKings College, Cambridge . He was then educated atDerby School andSt John's College, Cambridge . "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 . In 1911, he became Director of Music atGresham's School , Holt, where he remained for the rest of his working life, until he retired in 1949.In 1919 he composed his most famous work, his hymn tune "Woodlands", used for the hymn "Lift up Your Hearts" and for the
Magnificat paraphrase "Tell out My Soul". 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 wereBenjamin Britten , Sir Lennox Berkeley andW. H. Auden . Auden wrote of him thatAlbert Schweizer played the organ no better than Walter Greatorex.In July 1949, Greatorex retired to
Bournemouth , where he lived in an hotel for a few months until his death in December of the same year. He was long remembered by those he taught for his giant frame and Pickwickian face, radiating good nature.References
*cite book | author= | title=
Hymns Ancient and Modern | publisher=Richard Clay (The Chaucer press) | year=1986 | editor= | id= ISBN 0-907547-37-0
*"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)
* [http://www.winster.org/History/Greatorex/The%20Name%20of%20Greatorex.htm The Name of Greatorex]ources
* [http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Biographies/walter_greatorex.htm "The Hymns and Carols of Christmas"]
External links
* [http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Biographies/walter_greatorex.htm Hymns and Carols of Christmas]
* [http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/c/Greatorex/choral/1 Greatorex at Presto Classical]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.