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Sir George Job Elvey

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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SIR GEORGE JOB ELVEY (1816-1893), English organist and composer, was born at Canterbury on the 27th of March 1816. He was a chorister at Canterbury cathedral under Highmore Skeats, the organist. Subsequently he became a pupil of his elder brother, Stephen, and then studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Cipriani Potter and Dr Crotch. In 1834 he gained the Gresham prize medal for his anthem, "Bow down thine ear," and in 1835 was appointed organist of St George's chapel, Windsor, a post he filled for 47 years, retiring in 1882. He took the degree of Mus. B. at Oxford in 1838, and in 1840 that of Mus.D. Anthems of his were commissioned for the Three Choirs Festivals of 1853 and 1857, and in 1871 he received the honour of knighthood. He died at Windlesham in Surrey on the 9th of December 1893. His works, which are nearly all for the Church, include two oratorios, a great number of anthems and services, and some pieces for the organ. A memoir of him, by his widow, was published in 1894.