Liturgical Improvisation No 1

George Oldroyd (1 December 1886, Healey, Yorkshire, England – 26 February 1951, London, England) was an English organist, composer and teacher of Anglican church music.

He 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. Both are churches firmly rooted within the Anglo-Catholic tradition in the Church of England.

He composed numerous settings of the mass, but is best remembered for his "Mass of the Quiet Hour" composed in 1928, whose swooping melodies and lush harmonies recall the "Palm Court" style of that era. It was dedicated to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang, in whose diocese St. Michael's at that time lay, and is still part of the repertoire of many English cathedrals and parish churches.

He was the author of The Technique And Spirit Of Fugue: An Historical Study, published in 1948.

Liturgical Improvisation No 1 was published by Oxford University Press in 1948. The preceding text is “My soul hath a desire and longing to enter the courts of the Lord”. This work was dedicated to Dr T H Bishop. Regrettably, I have not been able to find any information about the good Doctor.