A Canticle (Deus Misereatur)

Dr. George Oldroyd (1887–1956) was organist of St. Alban's Church, Holborn from 1919 to 1920, and then of St Michael's Church, Croydon from 1920 until his death in 1956. He was also teacher of music studies at Whitgift School from 1933 - 1947, a part-time post which gave him time to compose and to give private tuition.

He composed numerous settings of the mass, but is best remembered for his "Mass of the Quiet Hour" composed in 1928. The music harks back to the Victorian era, and does so with an integrity that many people still find to be sincere and appealing.

"A Canticle" is dedicated to Richard Runciman Terry (1865-1938) was an organist, choir director and musicologist, Terry’s first appointments were to Elstow School in 1890 and as organist and choirmaster of St. John’s Cathedral, Antigua, in 1892. In 1896 he became organist and music director at the Roman Catholic Benedictine Downside School in Somerset. He was greatly inspired by the revival of Gregorian chant at Solesmes Abbey in France.

Terry was the first Director of Music at the newly built Westminster Cathedral, a post he held 1901-24; he resigned after coming under significant criticism for his choice of music. Nonetheless, during this time he established a significant choral tradition at the cathedral, developing a repertoire of both Gregorian chant and polyphonic music. The choir’s particular focus on renaissance polyphony is believed to have had an impact on the emerging school of 20th Century English composers and on the performance of church music in England. After his resignation from Westminster Cathedral, he went on to work as a musical editor, journalist and academic. He was the first editor of the Oxford University Press series Tudor Church Music, though by the time the series was completed, he had been ousted as editor.

Terry was knighted in the 1922.

Musical notes in the FIRST COMMENT.

The score is attached below, as well as photos of G. Oldroyd and R. R. Terry.