GILCHRIST.
William W. Gilchrist, the American composer, was born at Jersey City, N. J., in 1846. He began his studies with H. A. Clarke, professor of music in the University of Pennsylvania. In 1872 he accepted the position of organist at the New Jerusalem Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was also appointed teacher in the Conservatory of Miss Bauer. A year later he returned to Philadelphia, where he has since resided. During this time he has done a great work for music in that city, having been conductor of several societies. He has been the recipient of honors on many occasions, having obtained several prizes from the Philadelphia Art Society and others for his compositions. In 1880 he contended for the prize offered by the Cincinnati Musical Festival Association, but stood third on the list, Dudley Buck being first and George E. Whiting second. In 1882 he made another trial for the Association’s prize, and was successful; the committee, consisting of Carl Reinecke of Leipsic, M. Saint-Saens of Paris, and Theodore Thomas of New York, making him the award.
The Forty-sixth Psalm.
The composition referred to in the sketch of Mr. Gilchrist’s life which secured for him the Cincinnati prize in 1882 was “The Forty-sixth Psalm.” The composer’s own analysis of the work, furnished at the time, is appended:—
“The composition is a setting of the Forty-sixth Psalm for soprano solo, chorus, orchestra, and organ, and has four principal divisions exclusive of an introduction, each following the other without pause, and connected by a gradual decrescendo in the orchestra. The opening of the Psalm seemed to me to indicate a strong outburst of praise or of thanksgiving for a deliverance from trials, which the introduction is intended to convey. But instead of beginning with a strong outburst, I lead up to it from a very subdued beginning, working gradually to a climax at the entrance of the chorus on the words, ‘God is our refuge and our strength.’ The opening movement of the chorus becomes a little subdued very shortly as it takes up the words, ‘A very present help in trouble,’ which is followed again by an allegro con fuoco movement on the words, ‘Therefore we will not fear though the earth be removed, though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.’ This movement leads into still another, a furioso movement on the words, ‘Though the waters thereof roar, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.’ This is followed by an elaborate coda, in which all the themes of the preceding movement are worked together, and which brings the chorus to a close.
The second division, in E major, is marked by an andante contemplativo on the words, ‘There is a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God.’ This movement is intended to be one of tranquillity, varied with occasional passionate outbursts on the words, ‘God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.’ A peculiar rhythmical effect is sought by the alternation of 4/4 and 3/4 time, three bars of the first being answered by two bars of the second. This movement ends very tranquilly on the words, ‘God shall help her, and that right early,’ and is immediately followed by an allegro molto, in B minor, on the words, ‘The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved; he uttered his voice, the earth melted.’ In the middle of this chorus the soprano solo enters for the first time on the words, ‘He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder.’ The chorus works up to a strong climax on the words, ‘He burneth the chariot with fire,’ which is suddenly interrupted by a decrescendo on the words, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’
This leads to the third division, which is a return of the second division in E major, and which is played through almost entirely by the orchestra, the chorus merely meditating on the words last quoted. This leads to the final chorus, which is a fugue, in E major, with alla breve time, on the words, ‘And the Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge,’ towards the close of which a Gloria Patri is introduced, being woven in with fragments of the fugue to a strong climax. The whole composition finishes with an impetuous accelerando. My central idea was to make a choral and orchestral work, the solo, while requiring a good singer, being only secondary. The Psalm seemed to me particularly adapted for musical composition, as being capable of a varied, even dramatic effect.”
GLEASON.
Frederick Grant Gleason was born at Middletown, Conn., Dec. 17, 1848. He inherited the love of music from his parents,—his father having been a flutist and his mother an alto singer and pianist. In his sixteenth year he showed a decided talent for composition; and two of his works, an oratorio, “The Captivity,” and a Christmas oratorio, though crudely written, gave such promise that he was placed under the tuition of Dudley Buck, with whom he studied the piano and composition. He made such rapid progress that his parents were induced to send him to Germany, where he at once entered the Leipsic Conservatory. Moscheles taught him the piano, and Richter harmony, and he also took private lessons from Plaidy and Lobe. In 1870 he went to Berlin, where he continued his piano studies with Raif, a pupil of Tausig, and his tuition in harmony with Weitzmann. After a visit home he went to England and resumed lessons on the piano with Berringer, another pupil of Tausig, and also studied English music. He subsequently made a second visit to Berlin, and improved his time by studying theory with Weitzmann, the piano with Loeschorn, and the organ with Haupt. During this visit he also issued a valuable work entitled “Gleason’s Motet Collection.” After the completion of his studies he returned home and accepted the position of organist at one of the Hartford churches. In 1876 he removed to Chicago and engaged as teacher in the Hershey School of Musical Art. At present he is still occupied in teaching and also fills the position of musical critic for the “Tribune” of that city. During these years his pen has been very busy, as the list of his compositions shows. Among his principal works are two operas, still in manuscript,—“Otho Visconti” and “Montezuma;” the cantatas “God our Deliverer,” “The Culprit Fay,” and “Praise of Harmony;” and several trios, sonatas, and other works for the chamber, as well as many songs. The selections from his operas which have been played by the Thomas orchestra show that they are compositions of unusual excellence and scholarship.