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Gordon Saunders

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Dr Gordon Saunders with student Edith K. Comley (nee Bird), ca.1907–1912 at Trinity College of Music, London.

Joseph Gordon Saunders MusD (1837 – 17 January 1912)[1][2][3] was a composer of songs, church music and organ music.[4] He was also a teacher of composition, piano, harmony and counterpoint at the Trinity College of Music.[5] He was known to have conducted ensemble classes.[6]

Saunders studied with the organist and composer Edward John Hopkins[1] and also with organist and composer Elizabeth Stirling and virtuoso pianist and composer Henry Litolff.[3] He studied at the University of Oxford where he gained a Doctor of Music.[4] Whilst at Oxford, he wrote a textbook on counterpoint, Examples in strict counterpoint (old and new),[7] which was endorsed by the university.[4]

Saunders was the first teacher of British composer Granville Bantock[8][9] at the Trinity College of Music, London, where he was one of the seven founding members of the college.[4]

As part of his role at the Trinity College of Music, Saunders was an examiner and in 1896 he travelled to Australia and New Zealand to conduct numerous graded music examinations in multiple cities, Adelaide, Melbourne, Ballarat, Tasmania, and Brisbane.[10]

Works

[edit]
  • Eight Traditional Japanese Pieces – for solo tenor recorder, descant recorder or flute (published 1979)[11][12]
  • Memories (1868) – song. Verse by J. C. Harman, Esq. (Ashdown and Parry, London)[13][14]
  • I will give thanks. Thanksgiving anthem (1868)[15]
  • Festal March (1877)[3]
  • Mazurka for the pianoforte (1880)[16]
  • The Lord Is in His Holy Temple – Anthem (printed 1881)[17]
  • Polish Dance for pianoforte (1892)[18]
  • Fugue in D-Minor (1897)[3]
  • Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in F (1897)[19]
  • Prelude and Fugue (1897)[3]
  • Marche de Chiesa (1897)[3]
  • Postlude in G (1897)[3]
  • Ave Maria (1897)[3]
  • Vivat Rex-Variations and Fugue on the National Anthem (1903)[3]

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Saunders, Gordon (1897) A practical treatise on the art of phrasing (in three parts), A Hammond & Co[20][21]
  • Saunders, Gordon (1899) Examples in strict counterpoint (old and new), Ewer Novello[22][7]
  • Saunders, Gordon (1901) Examples in Strict Counterpoint: Part II [23]
  • Saunders, Gordon (1912) Examples in Strict Counterpoint: Part II Ewer Novello[24]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Pfitzinger, Scott (1 March 2017). Composer Genealogies: A Compendium of Composers, Their Teachers, and Their Students. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 247. ISBN 978-1-4422-7225-5. Hopkins, Edward J. (1818-1901) England. ...Students: Clark, Frederick Scotson; Pearce, Stephen Austen; Saunders, Gordon.
  2. ^ "Saunders, Gordon, 1837-1912". id.loc.gov. LC Name Authority File (LCNAF). Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Henderson, John (1996). A Directory of Composers for Organ. John Henderson. ISBN 978-0-9528050-0-7. LCCN gb97012447. (Joseph) Gordon Saunders, pupil of Elizabeth Stirling, W. Rea, E.J. Hopkins and H. Litolff, was a co-founder of Trinity College London and a teacher of Granville Bantock. He published many piano teaching pieces and a number of organ pieces.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ a b c d "Dr Gordon Saunders – Our Standard of Education". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 November 1896. p. 3 – via Trove. Dr. Saunders is a Doctor of Music of the University of Oxford, and his work on "Counterpoint" has been accepted at Oxford as one of the text books on the subject... ...Dr. Saunders is also known as a composer of songs and church music : but above all may be placed the fact that he is one of the seven original founders of Trinity College.
  5. ^ Johnson, Edward (1890). The Educational Annual. Harmony and Counterpoint. – Prof. Gordon Saunders, Mus. D...
  6. ^ Baltzell, Winton James (1914). Baltzell's Dictionary of Musicians: Containing Concise Biographical Sketches of Musicians of the Past and Present... O. Ditson. LCCN 15000540. Saunders, Joseph Gordon; b. 1837, London; d. Jan. 17, 1912, [London]; Mus. Doc. Oxford Univ., 1878; a founder of Trinity College, London; teacher of pfte., harmony, and condr. ensemble class; composer of church music, studies for pfte. and organ).
  7. ^ a b Saunders, Gordon (1 July 1893). "Examples in Strict Counterpoint, Old and New". The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular. 34 (605): 425. doi:10.2307/3363946. ISSN 0958-8434. JSTOR 3363946.
  8. ^ Seddon, Dr Laura (28 October 2013). British Women Composers and Instrumental Chamber Music in the Early Twentieth Century. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4724-0215-8. LCCN 2013002718. Bantock, Granville (1868–1946) Bantock was taught firstly by Gordon Saunders at Trinity College and then at the RAM by Frederick Corder.
  9. ^ Pfitzinger, Scott (1 March 2017). Composer Genealogies: A Compendium of Composers, Their Teachers, and Their Students. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4422-7225-5. LCCN 2016049946. Bantock, Granville (1869-1946) England. Teachers: Corder, Frederick; Saunders, Gordon.
  10. ^ Elliott, Frances; Southcott, Jane (2021). "Examinations in the Life of Studio Music Teachers in Australia prior to 1920". Journal of Historical Research in Music Education. 42 (2): 139–158. doi:10.1177/1536600619878562. ISSN 1536-6006. S2CID 210451618 – via Sage Journals. In 1896, Dr. Gordon Saunders (1837–1912), cofounder, senior professor, and registrar of the College, was the examiner sent to assess a larger number of candidates in Adelaide, Melbourne, Ballarat, and the chief cities of New Zealand, Tasmania, and Sydney.
  11. ^ "Saunders, Gordon – Eight Traditional Japanese Pieces". abrsm.org. ABRSM. NOV120507. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  12. ^ Eight traditional Japanese pieces, Sevenoaks England: Novello, 1979, retrieved 4 March 2023, via hathitrust.org
  13. ^ "Review of Memories. Song". The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular. 13 (307): 519. 1868. doi:10.2307/3352454. ISSN 0958-8434. JSTOR 3352454.
  14. ^ The Musical World. Vol. 46. United Kingdom: J. Alfredo Novello. 1868. p. 508. Memories. Song. Verses by J. C. Harman, Esq.; music by Gordon Saunders. [London: Ashdown & Parry.] An easy and graceful ballad – music and words being above the average.
  15. ^ "I will give thanks. Thanksgiving anthem | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  16. ^ "Mazurka for the Pianoforte | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  17. ^ Saunders, Gordon (1881). "The Lord is in His holy temple: anthem". Novello's Collection of Anthems. 12: 146–154. OCLC 1038083738.
  18. ^ "Polish Dance for pianoforte | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in F | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  20. ^ Harding, H. A. (1929). "Church and Organ Music. Royal College of Organists". The Musical Times. 70 (1032): 142–153. doi:10.2307/917072. ISSN 0027-4666. JSTOR 917499. Messrs. Hammond publish 'A Practical Treatise on the Art of Phrasing' by Gordon Saunders...
  21. ^ "Review of A Practical Treatise on the Art of Phrasing". The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular. 38 (651): 318. 1897. doi:10.2307/3366974. ISSN 0958-8434. JSTOR 3366974.
  22. ^ Saunders, Gordon (1899). Examples in Strict Counterpoint (old and New). Novello, Ewer.
  23. ^ Saunders, Gordon (1 December 1901). "Examples in Strict Counterpoint (Old and New). Part II". The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular. 42 (706): 817. doi:10.2307/3369219. ISSN 0958-8434. JSTOR 3369219.
  24. ^ Saunders, Gordon (1912). Examples in strict counterpoint: old and new. Novello.