William Wallace Gilchrist

Life

Born: 1846

Died: 1916

Biography

William Wallace Gilchrist was born in Jersey City, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia. He started a career in law and business, but decided to pursue music. He was active as church organist, teacher, and leader of musical clubs, founding the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia. He was baritone soloist at Holy Trinity and St. Mark’s Churches, soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society, and participant in a series of light operettas presented by the Amateur Drawing Room. He held positions as organist and choirmaster at St. Clement’s Church, Christ Church, and the Church of the New Jerusalem. He conducted the West Philadelphia Choral Society, the Germantown Choral Society, the Harmonia, the Harrisburg Choral Society and the Tuesday Club of Wilmington. He was a founding member of the Music Manuscript Society and of the American Guild of Organists. He was the head of voice instruction at the Philadelphia Musical Academy and conducted the Symphony Society of Philadelphia. He edited the Presbyterian Church’s official hymnal (1895) and The Hymnal for Use in Congregational Churches (1902). His compositions include two symphonies, chamber music, large choral works, songs and part-songs. In 1882, he won the Cincinnati Festival Prize for his setting of the 46th Psalm, where the judges included Camille Saint-Saëns and Carl Reinecke. He died in Easton, Pennsylvania.

View the Wikipedia article on William Wallace Gilchrist.

List of choral works

Sacred works

No works currently available

Secular works

Three Four-part Songs, The words by Sidney Lanier

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Publications

External websites:

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