Sir Walter Galpin Alcock (29 December 186111 September 1947) was an English organist and composer. He held a number of prominent positions as an organist and played at the coronations of three monarchs. He was professor of organ in the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

, London.

Life and career

Alcock was born at

Edenbridge, Kent Edenbridge is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Sevenoaks (district), Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. Its name derives from Old English ''Eadhelmsbrigge'' (meaning "Eadhelm's Bridge"). It is located on the border of ...

. At the age of 15 he won a scholarship to the National Training School for Music, where he studied composition with

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

and the organ with

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 ...

."Obituary – Sir Walter Alcock", ''The Times'', 12 September 1947, p. 7 After a brief series of posts (

Holy Trinity Sloane Street The Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity with Saint Jude, Upper Chelsea, commonly called Holy Trinity Sloane Street or Holy Trinity Sloane Square, is a Church of England parish church in London, England. It was built in 1888–90 at the ...

and St. Margaret's, Westminster), in 1893 he was appointed Organ Professor at the

. He was assistant organist of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

from 1896, and was concurrently organist of the

Chapels Royal A chapel royal is an establishment in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, British and Monarchy of Canada#Federal residences and royal household, Canadian royal households serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the royal family ...

from 1902. In 1916 he became organist of

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...

where he oversaw a strictly faithful restoration of the famous

Father Willis Henry Willis (27 April 1821 – 11 February 1901), also known as "Father" Willis, was an English organ player and builder, who is regarded as the foremost organ builder of the Victorian era. His company Henry Willis & Sons remains in busin ...

organ,Webb, Stanley and Paul Hale
"Alcock, Sir Walter"
Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, accessed 1 March 2012 even going to such lengths as to refuse to allow parts of the instrument to leave the cathedral in case any unauthorised tonal alteration were made without his knowledge while allowing some discreet additions in the original style of the organ (as well as modernisation of the organ's actions) by Henry Willis III, the grandson of Father Willis. Alcock had the unique distinction of playing the organ at Westminster Abbey at the coronations of three kings:

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

(1902),

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

(1911) and

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

(1937). Between 1917 and 1924, Alcock, with

Charles Harford Lloyd Charles Harford Lloyd (Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, Thornbury, 16 October 1849 – Eton, Berkshire, Eton, 16 October 1919)the Madrigal Society The Madrigal Society is a British association of amateur musicians. As with other madrigal societies in England and elsewhere, its whole purpose is to sing madrigals. It may be the oldest club of its kind in existence in England. It was founded b ...

, to assist the ageing

Sir Frederick Bridge Sir John Frederick Bridge (5 December 1844 – 18 March 1924) was an English organist, composer, teacher and writer. From a musical family, Bridge became a church organist before he was 20, and he achieved his ambition to become a cathedral ...

, who had been appointed to the role in 1888. Alcock was knighted in 1933 for services to music. He was a distinguished teacher, whose published material for organ students is still thought valuable. Among his notable pupils were

Edward Bairstow Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow (22 August 18741 May 1946) was an English organist and composer in the Anglican church music tradition. Life and career Bairstow was born in Trinity Street, Huddersfield in 1874. His grandfather Oates Bairstow was ...

Ralph Downes Ralph William Downes CBE KSG (16 August 1904 – 24 December 1993) was an English organist, organ designer, teacher and music director and was Professor of Organ in the Royal College of Music. Biography Downes was born in Derby and studied a ...

, and S. Drummond Wolff. His hobbies included the construction of a model railway, on which choirboys at Salisbury would be given rides. Alcock died at the age of 85. His funeral service was in Salisbury Cathedral. In an obituary tribute

Sir Thomas Armstrong Sir Thomas Armstrong ( – 20 June 1684) was an English Army officer and politician who was executed for treason.Richard L. Greaves, Armstrong, Sir Thomas (bap. 1633, d. 1684), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press ...

wrote of "his firm foundations of good musicianship and sound tradition" and added:

Family

Walter Galpin Alcock was the son of Walter William Alcock and Mary Galpin. In 1871 Walter William was the superintendent of the Metropolitan Police Orphanage at Fortescue House, Twickenham. In 1893 Alcock married Naomi Blanche Lucas. They had one son and five daughters. The eldest daughter, Naomi Judith, married Dingwall Bateson in 1922."Obituary – Sir Dingwall Bateson", ''The Times'', 31 January 1967, p. 12

Notes

External links

Recordings by Alcock
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcock, Walter Galpin 1861 births 1947 deaths 20th-century English composers English classical organists People from Edenbridge, Kent Academics of the Royal College of Music Knights Bachelor Musicians awarded knighthoods Composers awarded knighthoods Members of the Royal Victorian Order Musicians from Kent 20th-century English male musicians 20th-century English musicians English male classical organists