Isaiah Burnell (1871–1951) was a British music teacher and composer whose musical activities were mostly centred around his adopted home town of

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about north-east of Worcester and south-west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 34,755 in at the 2021 census. It gives its name to the wider Bromsgrove District, of which it is ...

, Worcestershire.John R. Arrand.
Burnell of Bromsgrove (1871–1959): Yorkshire Man, Bromsgrove Musician
', Brewin Books (2018) Burnell was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. He become a member of the

Royal College of Organists The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, with members worldwide. Its role is to promote and advance organ playing and choral music, and it offers music education, training and de ...

at the age of 18. By the turn of the century he was living and working in Bromsgrove, where he stayed for the following fifty years until his death. He was Director of Music and mathematics at

Bromsgrove School Bromsgrove School is a co-educational boarding and day school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. Founded in 1553, it is one of the oldest public schools in Britain, and one of the 14 founding members of the Headmasters' Confer ...

from 1907 for 25 years and musical director and conductor of the Bromsgrove Musical Club. Burnell began corresponding with

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

from 1914Letter from Elgar, dated 6 February 1914
/ref> and on several occasions Elgar attended concerts organized by him. Burnell put on performances of Elgar's ''Caractacus'' in 1914 and ''King Olaf'' in 1929 at the Bromsgrove Town Hall.

Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was a British conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...

conducted a piece by Burnell with the

City of Birmingham Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall, Birmingham in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its adminis ...

in 1928. His compositions include the Passiontide cantata ''For Us Men'' (1939) for soloists, chorus and organ, advertised by his publishers Novello as an alternative to

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 (Stainer), The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some Angli ...

's ''Crucifixion'', and written in much the same simple, popular and direct style.Back matter on Novello's 1938 edition of Bach's ''St Matthew Passion'' His best known work was the anthem ''Surely the Lord is in this place'', written for the dedication of Bromsgrove School's Memorial Chapel in May 1931. An archive collection of manuscripts and letters was sold by John Wilson Manuscripts in 2006.

Selected works

* Concert overture in G major * ''Gather ye Rosebuds'', choral setting (1930), published H F W Deans * ''The Gay Cavalier'', quick march for brass band * ''Elegy'' for orchestra * ''England'', choral, text

Mary Cowden Clarke Mary Victoria Cowden Clarke (née Novello; pen names, M. H. and Harry Wandsworth Shortfellow; 22 June 1809 – 12 January 1898) was an English author, and compiler of a concordance to Shakespeare. Early life and education Mary Victoria Novell ...

* ''For Us Men'', Passiontide cantata (1939), published Novello * ''Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis'', choral * ''Meditation'' in F, for organ * ''Minuet and Trio'' for strings * Overture in E minor for orchestraProgramme of the annual Choral Concert of Bromsgrove Musical Club, 13 March 1933, conducted by Burnell * Piano Trio on G * Psalm XXIII, choral * ''The Sands of Dee'', choral partsong, published Novello * ''Scherzo'' for orchestra * ''Six short pieces'' for piano * Suite for Brass Band (1935) * ''Surely the Lord is in this place'', choral anthem (1931), published Novello

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnell, Isaiah 1871 births 1951 deaths 20th-century British classical composers People from Bromsgrove Musicians from Worcestershire