Joseph Humfrey Anger (3 June 186211 June 1913) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

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, composer, and

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of English birth. His compositional output consists mainly of church music and works for solo piano and organ. Some of his more well known works are ''A Concert Overture'' for organ (1895), the patriotic song ''Hail Canada'' (1911), and ''Tintamarre, Morceau de Salon'' (1911), all of which were published by Whaley, Royce & Co. The latter piece was notably the first published classical composition to thoroughly integrate true tone clusters. He also wrote the textbooks ''Form in Music'' and ''A Treatise on Harmony'', both of which were widely used in music schools in North America.

Life and career

Born at Ashbury in

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(now Oxfordshire), Anger studied at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

where he earned a

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of presc ...

. He began his career as a school teacher and a church organist-choirmaster in his native country. He was notably the conductor of the Ludlow Choral and Orchestral Society for several years. In 1897 his cantata ''A Song of Thanksgiving'' was awarded the Jubilee Prize by the Bath Philharmonic Society. In 1890 his

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance music, Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque music, Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The Polyphony, polyphoni ...

''Bonnie Belle'' won the London Madrigal Society Prize. In 1893 Anger emigrated to

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when he was appointed to the music faculty of the

Toronto Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

where he was made head of the music theory department. He also worked as an examiner for the

University of Trinity College Trinity College (occasionally referred to as The University of Trinity College) is a college federated with the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Strachan originally intended Trinity as a university of strong Ang ...

for many years. In 1894 he was appointed organist-choirmaster at the Church of the Ascension, leaving there in 1896 to assume a similar position at Old St Andrew's Presbyterian Church. He left St Andrew's in 1902 when he became organist-choirmaster at Central Methodist Church. From 1896 to 1898 Anger served as the conductor of the

Toronto Philharmonic Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. He was appointed president of the

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in 1895 and was for several years the dean of the Ontario chapter of the

American Guild of Organists The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educat ...

. He died 11 June 1913 in

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eight days after his 51st birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anger, Humfrey 1862 births 1913 deaths 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers Alumni of New College, Oxford Canadian classical composers Canadian classical organists Male classical organists Canadian classical pianists Male classical pianists Male conductors (music) Canadian music educators Canadian male classical composers Musicians from Oxfordshire People from Old Toronto People from Vale of White Horse (district) Academic staff of The Royal Conservatory of Music 20th-century Canadian pianists English emigrants to Canada 19th-century classical pianists Canadian male pianists 20th-century Canadian conductors (music) 20th-century Canadian male musicians 19th-century British male musicians

Life and career

See also

References