- William Henry Harris
Sir William Henry Harris (
March 28 1883 -September 6 1973 ) was an English organist andcomposer , affectionately nicknamed 'Doc H' by his choristers.Harris was born in
Fulham ,London and died in Petersfield. He was a chorister of Holy Trinity,Tulse Hill . At the age of 14, he took up a "flexible" position as Assistant Organist atSt David's Cathedral inWales , followed at 16 by a scholarship to theRoyal College of Music where he was Professor of Organ andHarmony from 1921 to 1955. He was organist atSt Augustine's Church, Edgbaston from 1911 to 1919 and concurrently of Assistant Organist atLichfield Cathedral followed in 1919 by becoming Organist successively at New College and in 1929Christ Church, Oxford , moving toSt. George's Chapel, Windsor in 1933.As Organist at
Windsor , Harris was at his most productive. He produced music for theThree Choirs Festival , was a conductor at both the 1937 and 1953 coronations, and had music premiered at theProms , all of which led to being awarded his KCVO in 1954.Harris is best remembered for his
Anglican church music , though his main achievements were as a choir-trainer. His most famous works are theanthems "Faire is the heaven" (1925) and to a lesser extent "Bring us, O Lord God" (1959), both for unaccompanied double choir, and "Strenthen ye the weak hands" (1949) for choir and organ. His very accessible Communion Service in F was frequently sung in a great manyAnglican parish church es up until the 1970s. Thecanticle s Harris in A and Harris in A minor are still sung atEvensong in a number ofAnglican cathedral s. He also composedcantata s and organ pieces, as well as thehymn tune "Alberta" (often used for the wordsLead, Kindly Light ), and various Anglicanpsalm chants.External links
* [http://www.chesternovello.com/composer/656/main.html List of works]
* [http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/4799.htm Biography]
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