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

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

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 ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

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 ...

, and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

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 cluster A tone cluster is a musical chord comprising at least three adjacent tones in a scale. Prototypical tone clusters are based on the chromatic scale and are separated by semitones. For instance, three adjacent piano keys (such as C, C, and D) s ...

s. 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

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

(now

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

), Anger studied at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

where he earned a

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

. 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 cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

''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 (15th–16th centuries) and early Baroque (1580–1650) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the ...

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

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

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 (musician), Edwar ...

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 University of Toronto#Colleges, federated college of the University of Toronto located at the University of Toronto#St. George campus, St. George campus in Down ...

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 ( , locally pronounced or ) is the most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the fourth-most populous city in North America. The city ...

. He was appointed president of the Canadian Society of Musicians 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 educa ...

. 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 Canadian classical composers Alumni of New College, Oxford Canadian classical organists Canadian male classical organists Canadian classical pianists Canadian male classical pianists Canadian 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 20th-century Canadian conductors (music) 20th-century Canadian male musicians 19th-century British male musicians

Life and career

See also

References