Blessed Are The Pure In Heart - Henry Walford Davies
Henry Walford Davies
Browse 1 Sheet
Sort:
Song library
Browse piano sheets by Henry Walford Davies on Zen Virtual Piano. At 12 he joined the choir at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and from 1885 to 1890 he was pupil-assistant to Sir Walter Parratt. A scholarship in composition took him to the Royal College of Music in London in 1890, and he remained a student there until 1894. Entering a chapel choir at 12 and an assistantship in his teens puts music at the center of his schooling. In 1896 he failed the counterpoint paper of the Cambridge doctor of music examinations and thought of resigning his post; on a second try he passed, and the degree was conferred in March 1898. From May 1898 he served as organist and choir director at the Temple Church in the City of London, staying until 1923. A failed counterpoint paper in 1896 and a doctorate two years later make that stretch look like a setback that did not last. He wrote his famous piece God Be In My Head at Witham Hall, and since 1930 his Solemn Melody has been frequently performed as mourning music on Remembrance Sunday at The Cenotaph, Whitehall. His first BBC broadcast came in April 1924, the start of many that continued until 1941; among the programmes he was known for were Music and the Ordinary Listener (1926–9), Everyman's Music (1940–41) and broadcasts for children in wartime (1939–41). A composer of church music who also spent years addressing the ordinary listener on the radio seems to have worked in two rooms, the church and the living room. He was knighted in 1922, made C.V.O. in 1932 and K.C.V.O. in 1937, and in 1934, when Edward Elgar died, King George V named him Master of the King's Musick. A knighthood, a royal appointment and a place in mourning music make a line of recognition running through his career.
Browse piano sheets by Henry Walford Davies on Zen Virtual Piano.
At 12 he joined the choir at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and from 1885 to 1890 he was pupil-assistant to Sir Walter Parratt. A scholarship in composition took him to the Royal College of Music in London in 1890, and he remained a student there until 1894. Entering a chapel choir at 12 and an assistantship in his teens puts music at the center of his schooling.
In 1896 he failed the counterpoint paper of the Cambridge doctor of music examinations and thought of resigning his post; on a second try he passed, and the degree was conferred in March 1898. From May 1898 he served as organist and choir director at the Temple Church in the City of London, staying until 1923. A failed counterpoint paper in 1896 and a doctorate two years later make that stretch look like a setback that did not last.
He wrote his famous piece God Be In My Head at Witham Hall, and since 1930 his Solemn Melody has been frequently performed as mourning music on Remembrance Sunday at The Cenotaph, Whitehall. His first BBC broadcast came in April 1924, the start of many that continued until 1941; among the programmes he was known for were Music and the Ordinary Listener (1926–9), Everyman's Music (1940–41) and broadcasts for children in wartime (1939–41). A composer of church music who also spent years addressing the ordinary listener on the radio seems to have worked in two rooms, the church and the living room.
He was knighted in 1922, made C.V.O. in 1932 and K.C.V.O. in 1937, and in 1934, when Edward Elgar died, King George V named him Master of the King's Musick. A knighthood, a royal appointment and a place in mourning music make a line of recognition running through his career.
Search the library
Common questions
Sir Henry Walford Davies was a composer, organist and broadcaster who studied at the Royal College of Music and was appointed Master of the King's Musick in 1934.
In May 1898 he took up the posts of organist and choir director at the Temple Church in the City of London and held them until 1923.
Since 1930 his Solemn Melody has been frequently performed as mourning music on Remembrance Sunday at The Cenotaph, Whitehall.
Music and the Ordinary Listener (1926–9), wartime broadcasts for children (1939–41) and Everyman's Music (1940–41) made him well known.