Humfrey Anger

Anger, Humfrey

(Joseph) Humfrey Anger. Teacher, composer, organist, conductor, b Berkshire, England, 3 Jun 1862, d Toronto 11 Jun 1913; B MUS (Oxford), FRCO, honorary D MUS (Trinity, Toronto) 1902. Before being appointed head of the theory department of the TCM in 1893, he had been conductor of the Ludlow (Shropshire) Choral and Orchestral Society, a school teacher, and a church organist. He had enjoyed some success as a composer: his cantata A Song of Thanksgiving (Psalm 96, Novello 1897) had won the Jubilee Prize of the Bath Philharmonic Society, and in 1890 his madrigal Bonnie Belle (Novello) had won the London Madrigal Society Prize. While at the TCM, Anger wrote the widely used textbooks Form in Music and A Treatise on Harmony. In Toronto he was organist-choirmaster 1894-6 at the Church of the Ascension and later at the Old St Andrew's Presbyterian Church. After 1902 he was at Central Methodist Church. He conducted the Toronto Philharmonic 1896-8, served 1895-6 as president of the Canadian Society of Musicians and was dean of the Ontario chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He was for many years an examiner for the University of Trinity College (Toronto). In Canada Anger composed mostly church music and pieces for piano and organ, including A Concert Overture for organ (Whaley Royce 1895), a patriotic song, 'Hail Canada' (ibid 1911), and Tintamarre, Morceau de Salon (ibid 1911, reprinted in CMH, vol 6). The last-named piece provides an interesting early example of tone clusters, which Anger used to imitate the ringing of bells.

Writings

Humfrey Anger, Church Music (Toronto 1893)

Form in Music (Toronto 1898, rev ed Boston 1900)

Elements of Harmony (Toronto 1902)

A Treatise on Harmony, 3 vols (Toronto 1905, Boston 1906-12); ed rev by H. Clough-Leighter based on posthumously incorporated annotations by the author (Boston 1919)

The Modern Enharmonic Scale (Boston 1907)

A Key to the Exercises in Part I and II of A Treatise on Harmony, 2 vols (Boston 1909, 1913)