George Elbridge Whiting

George Elbridge Whiting was an American composer of classical music.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on George Whiting.

From the period sources

George Elbridge Whiting, an American organist and composer, was born in Holliston, Massachusetts, in 1842, though one source notes 1840 (Dictionary of Music, 1896). He began his musical studies at the remarkably early age of five and became an organist in Hartford by seventeen (Famous Composers and Their Works, 1891). Whiting pursued organ studies with G. W. Morgan in New York and Best in Liverpool, further studying orchestration with Radecke in Berlin (Dictionary of Music, 1896). He held various organist positions in Boston, Hartford, and Albany, and by 1896 was professor of organ-playing at the Cincinnati Conservatory (Dictionary of Music, 1896).

Whiting was recognized as a significant figure in the “American” school of organists and composers, alongside contemporaries like Dudley Buck and J. K. Paine (Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1886). His compositions span nearly all forms, both instrumental and vocal, with a particular focus on sacred music for the Roman Catholic Church, of which he was a communicant (Famous Composers and Their Works, 1891). His works include two masses, a Te Deum, and choral pieces with orchestra such as “The Viking’s Story” and “Leonora,” as well as “The March of the Monks of Bangor,” which was first performed by the Apollo Club in Boston in 1887 (Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, Vol. 2, 1889; Famous Composers and Their Works, 1891). He also composed a symphony, a suite, a concert overture for orchestra, a pianoforte concerto, and numerous organ pieces (Famous Composers and Their Works, 1891). Whiting’s influence extended to teaching, with notable pupils including Charles Henry Morse and Henry Morton Dunham (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1905; Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, Vol. 1, 1888).