Sir Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley, 2nd Baronet (12 August 18256 April 1889) was an English composer,

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational ...

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

Biography

Frederick Ouseley was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the son of Sir

Gore Ouseley Sir Gore Ouseley, 1st Baronet GCH, PC (24 June 1770 – 18 November 1844), was a British entrepreneur, linguist and diplomat. He was born in 1770 and died at Hall Barn Park, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire in 1844. He negotiated an important ...

, and manifested an extraordinary precocity in music, composing an opera (''L'Isola disabitata'') at the age of eight years. In 1844, having succeeded to the baronetcy, he entered at Christ Church, Oxford, and graduated BA in 1846 and MA in 1849. He was ordained in the latter year, and, as curate of

St. Paul's Church, Knightsbridge St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, is a Grade II*listed Anglican church of the Anglo-Catholic tradition located at 32a Wilton Place in Knightsbridge, London. History and architecture The church was founded in 1843, the first in London to champi ...

, served the parish of

St. Barnabas Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Victor ...

until 1851. Throughout his life, Ouseley experienced a social conflict between his aristocratic heritage and his interest in the performance of Anglican church music, an activity which was seen as beneath someone of his stature. In 1850 he took the degree of Mus.B. at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

, and four years afterwards that of Mus.D., his exercise being the

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

''The Martyrdom of St Polycarp''. He was

Heather Professor of Music The Heather Professor of Music is the title of an endowed chair at the University of Oxford. The post and the funding for it come from a bequest by William Heather (c. 1563 – 1627). Following the example of his friend William Camden who had left ...

at Oxford from 1855 to 1889. In 1856 Ouseley both founded and endowed with his own funds St Michael's College on the outskirts of

Tenbury Wells Tenbury Wells (locally Tenbury) is a market town and civil parish in the northwestern extremity of the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Its northern border adjoins Shropshire, and at the 2011 census it had a population of 3,777. ...

, a choir school intended to serve as a model for Anglican church music. He also became the school's first Warden. Ouseley's works, which are little known today, include a second oratorio, ''Hagar'' (Hereford, 1873), a great number of

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

and anthems, psalm chants, cantatas, chamber music, organ pieces and songs. Among his instructional treaties on

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howev ...

, counterpoint,

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the co ...

, and composition are ''Harmony'' (1868) and ''Counterpoint'' (1869) and ''Musical Form'' (1875). He also added a series of chapters on English music to the English translation of

Emil Naumann Emil Naumann (8 September 1827 – 23 June 1888) was a German composer and church musician. Life Born in Berlin, Naumann was the son of the physician Moritz Naumann (1798–1871) and grandson of the ''Kapellmeister'' Johann Gottlieb Naumann ...

's History of Music, the subject having been practically ignored in the German treatise. Ouseley died in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a populatio ...

, where he had been

precentor A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is ''præcentor'', from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first ...

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford in Hereford, England. A place of worship has existed on the site of the present building since the 8th century or earlier. The present building was begun in 1079. S ...

since 1855. Probably his most notable student was

Sir John Stainer Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of '' The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some churches of the Anglican Comm ...

Works

Choral

nfinished* Anthems: **''All the kings of the earth'' **''And there was a pure river of Water of life'' **''And there was a war in heaven'' **''Ascribe ye greatness'' **''Awake, thou that sleepest'' **''Behold, how good and joyful'' **''Behold now, praise the Lord'' **''Be merciful unto me'' **''Blessed be the Lord God of Israel'' **''Blessed be Thou'' **''Blessed is he whose unrighteousness'' **''Blessed is the man'' **''Christ is risen from the dead'' **''Except the Lord build the house'' **''From the rising of the sun'' **''Give thanks, O Israel'' **''Great is the Lord'' **''Happy is the man'' **''Haste Thee, O God'' **''How goodly are the tents'' **''Is it nothing to you'' **''It came even to pass'' **''Jerusalem on high'' **''O Saviour of the world'' *Oratorios **''St Polycarp'' (1854) **''Hagar'' (Hereford Festival, 1873) *Services **Evening Service in B flat **Evening Service in E flat *Miscellaneous **Gloria in D **Te Deum in D **Te Deum in F *Hymn tunes **Contemplation (When all thy mercies, O my God) **Hereford (When wounded sore the stricken heart) **Bewdley (Children of the heavenly King) **St. Gabriel.

References

;Attribution *

External links

* *
St Michael's College Society

The Ouseley Church Music Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouseley, Frederick 1825 births 1889 deaths 19th-century English musicians 19th-century British composers 19th-century British male musicians 19th-century classical composers Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom English classical composers English Romantic composers English classical organists British male organists English music theorists 19th-century English Anglican priests Heather Professors of Music English male classical composers Oratorio composers Male classical organists 19th-century organists 19th-century musicologists