(George) Calvin Hampton (December 31, 1938 – August 5, 1984) was a leading

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

and

sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as a ritual. Reli ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. Hampton was born in

Kittanning, Pennsylvania Kittanning ( ) is a borough in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is situated northeast of Pittsburgh, along the east bank of the Allegheny River. The population was 3,921 at the 2020 census. The name is ...

and raised in

Ravenna, Ohio Ravenna is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 11,323 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located east of Akron, Ohio, Akron. Formed from portions of Ravenna Township, Portage Co ...

. He graduated from

Oberlin Conservatory The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory of Oberlin College, a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in ...

in 1960 and from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

in 1963. From September 1963 through June 1983, he was organist and

choirmaster A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

at Calvary Episcopal Church in the

Gramercy Park Gramercy ParkSometimes misspelled as Grammercy () is the name of both a small, fenced-in private park, and the surrounding neighborhood (which is also referred to as Gramercy), in Manhattan in New York City. The approximately park, located ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. His “Fridays at Midnight” organ recital series, which ran from 1974 to 1983, was among the most well-known and popular organ recital series in American history. Hampton also composed music for the church and the concert stage. In 1974, he composed music for Walter Leyden Brown's production of

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

's ''Pierre, or the Ambiguities'', which was produced at

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (sometimes abbreviated as La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1961 by African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer Ellen Stewart. Located in the East Village neighborho ...

in the East Village of Manhattan. Before Hampton's death,

Erik Routley Erik Reginald Routley ( ; 31 October 1917, Brighton, UK – 8 October 1982, Nashville TN) was an English Congregational churchman, theologian, musician, and prominent hymnologist. Career His nearly 40 books on theological thought and music of t ...

, an authority on

church music Church music is a genre of Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian musi ...

, called Hampton "the greatest living composer of hymn tunes." His settings of the

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

are also used in

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

churches , and his choral works are innovative and challenging pieces of sacred music. Hampton also transcribed music from other sources for the organ. His versions of

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

's ''

Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' is a piano suite in ten movements, plus a recurring and varied Promenade theme, written in 1874 by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. It is a musical depiction of a tour of an exhibition of works by architect and ...

'' and

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

's '' Symphony in D minor'' for organ are particularly noteworthy. Hampton's views on the proper design and function of the organ, particularly in the orchestral context, were controversial because they conflicted with

neo-Baroque Neo-Baroque may refer to: * Neo-Baroque music * Neo-Baroque painting, a painting style used by Christo Coetzee and others *Baroque Revival architecture * Neo-Baroque film *the Organ reform movement The Organ Reform Movement or ''Orgelbewegung'' ...

views. Hampton eventually stopped working at the church to concentrate on composition and organ

consulting A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

. During this time, he consulted for several important classical organs in the United States. He contracted

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

but remained active until the final few weeks of his life, composing the massive ''Alexander Variations'' for two

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

s while almost completely bedridden in 1984. He died at the age of 45 near his parents’ home in

Port Charlotte, Florida Port Charlotte is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. The population was 60,625 at the 2020 census, up from 54,392 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Punta Gorda, FL Metropolitan ...

References

External links

Hampton's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections

Article about Hampton on ''Broad Street Review'' (2014)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, Calvin 1938 births 1984 deaths 20th-century American male composers American classical organists People from Armstrong County, Pennsylvania People from Ravenna, Ohio AIDS-related deaths in Florida 20th-century American classical musicians 20th-century American composers 20th-century American organists American male classical organists