Henry John Gauntlett (1805-1876), the son of a Buckinghamshire vicar, displayed musical promise from an early age, becoming Organist at his father’s church at the age of nine, and Choirmaster at fourteen. While studying and practising law he was Organist at St Olave’s Church in Southwark and Assistant Organist at Christ Church, Newgate Street. Upon leaving the legal profession, Gauntlett served at Union Chapel, Islington, at All Saints’ Church, Notting Hill, and finally at St Bartholomew-the-Less, Smithfield. An early reviver of the music of Bach and Beethoven, he also worked with Mendelssohn and played in the first performance of Elijah in Birmingham Town Hall in 1846. Reputed to have composed over 1,000 hymn tunes, Gauntlett’s legacy is immortalised in Irby, the tune he composed for the carol ‘Once in Royal David’s City’. In his day he did much to improve the standards of church music editorially, chorally, and in the realm of organ building.

from notes by John Challenger © 2022