- George Whiting
George Elbridge Whiting was an American
composer of classicalmusic . He was born14 September 1840 inHolliston, Massachusetts , and died inCambridge, Massachusetts 14 October 1923 at the age of 83.He founded the
Beethoven Society inHartford, Connecticut when he was fifteen years old.He moved to
Boston, Massachusetts in 1862 and later toNew York City .Education
He was a student of
George W. Morgan . He went toLiverpool, England , and studied withWilliam T. Best . He later studied inBerlin withRobert Radecke and others.Posts
He worked in various positions in
Albany, New York and Boston.He succeeded
John Henry Willcox as organist and choir master at theChurch of the Immaculate Conception on the south side ofBoston , where he composed his masses in C minor, F minor, and Eb major.In 1874 he became organist of the Music hall in
Boston, Massachusetts .In 1878 he went to the Music Hall inCincinnati, Ohio .He was also for a time head of the organ department in the
New England Conservatory .Obituaries
On
16 October 1923 theBoston Globe reported::Funeral services for George E. Whiting, widely known as an organist, composer, teacher and conductor, will be held tomorrow at 2 in Mt. Auburn chapel, Cambridge. He died yesterday, aged 83, at Cambridge. Mr. Whiting was born in Holliston. He began his musical studies at the age of 5. When he was 13 he made his first appearance as an organist, in Worcester. He later studied inLondon , under the famous organist, Bast. Mr. Whiting served as organist in Hartford, Albany and other cities. At Albany he was organist of St. Joseph's presiding at the largest organ in the country, at that time. In 1862 he made his first appearance in Boston, atTremont Temple . In 1872 he became a teacher at theNew England Conservatory of Music . Leaving there in 1878, he became organist at theCincinnati Music Hall , at its opening. Later he was elected organist of the corporation and professor of the organ and of composition in the College of Music in that city. He later returned to the conservatory, in this city. Mr. Whiting was organist of theChurch of the Immaculate Conception , Harrison Av., for many years, and was also conductor of the large choir of that church.On
18 October 1923 theBoston Globe reported::Funeral services for George E. Whiting of Cambridge,composer andmusician , who died on Monday, were held yesterday afternoon at Mt. Auburn Chapel. Rev.Abbott Peterson of theFirst Unitarian Church of Brookline , officiated. The body was cremated and the ashes will be placed in the family lot in rural Cemetery, Worcester.John P. Hession , an old pupil of Mr. Whiting, played four of Mr. Whiting's last compositions, funeral preludes, at the services. These selections have never been published and were given to Mr. Hession by the composer.Musical works
His compositions include:
*mass in C minor (1872)
*mass in F minor (1874)
*mass in F minor (undated)
*"Dream Pictures" (1874)
*"The Tale of the Viking" (1878)
*"Leonora" (1893 opera)
*three cantatas
*some pieces for orchestra
*and several songs.
*music for the organHe wrote several published texts, including:
*"The Organist" (Boston, 1870)
*"The First Six Months on the Organ" (Boston, 1871).External links
*IMSLP|id=Whiting, George Elbridge|cname=George Whiting
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