William Henry Speer 1863-1937

[giles.enders]

William Henry Speer  Born 9.11.1863  London   Died. 21.5.1937  Sidmouth, Dorset.

William was the second of four sons ¹of a wealthy merchant, Alfred Miles Speer.  William attended a private school in nearby Gloucester where he received music and organ lessons from Dr Charles Harford Lloyd. In June 1883 he was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge.  He continued his studies attending The Royal College of Organists where he studied under Sir Walter Parratt and Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.   Between 1903 and 1910 he was organist at St.Peter's Church,  Bexhill.
He married his wife Marion Lilford Loraine Estridge in 1887 and had four children ²

Orchestral

Symphony in E flat
Rhapsody in E flat
'Cindarella' suite for orchestra  pub. by Stainer & Bell
Infancy and Childhood   pub. by Stainer & Bell
Festival Overture  Op.9  pub. by Novello & Co  1898   Written for The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Meditation, for  small orchestra  Op.11/2 pub. by Novello & Co.
Legend, for small orchestra  Op.11/4
Nocturne for strings  Op.17  pub. by Stainer & Bell 1913  Written for The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Chamber

String Quartet in B flat Op.6  1895 pub. by Lengnick and also by Simrock
Violin Sonata in D major Op.4  1893  pub. by Breitkopf & Hartel
Four sketches for violin and piano  pub. by Laudy & Co
Nine miniatures for violin and piano  Op.16: A Quick march, Happy ever, See-saw, Merry-go-round, Swinging, Mazurka, Day Dreams, A Little polka, A Little march.   pub. by Stainer & Bell

Piano

Sonata in D major  Op.2   pub. by Breitkpf & Hartel 1892
Caprice Op.22  pub. by Ascherberg, Hopwood & Crew.
Piano arrangement of suite 'Cindarella'    pub. by Breitkopf & Hartel
Piano arrangement of 'Infancy and Childhood'  Op.15  pub. by Stainer & Bell
'The Children's Hour' nine pieces  Op.21  pub. by Augener

Song

Album of Six Songs  words by E Oxenford  Op.1 pub. by Novello, Ewer & Co.
'The Cottager's Lullaby'  for contralto and piano  words by William Wordsworth  written in collaboration with his cousin Charlton Templeman Speer pub. by Weekes & Co. 1897
'The Gift'  words by Richard Herrick  pub. by Stainer & Bell1929
'The Merry Men of England'  for baritone and piano  words by Carpenter pub. by Weekes & Co.
'The Knight's Leap'  for bass and piano  pub. by Laudy & Co.
'Merry May-land'  for soprano and piano  words by E Teschemacher   pub. by Enoch & Sons.
'Sweet May'  for soprano and piano  words by E Teschemacher  pub. by Enoch & Sons.
'What the Bullet sang'  for baritone and piano  words by Bret Harte  pub. by Novello & Co
'Where Delia is'  for soprano and piano words by E Teschemacher  pub. by Enoch & Sons
'The Virgin's Cradle Song' words by Coleridge    pub. by Novello & Co
Three Elizabethan Love songs for tenor  Op.7:`
1. Turn I my looks unto the skies  words by T Lodge pub. by Laudy & Co
2. Love   words by S Daniel pub. by Laudy & Co.
3. Who look for day befor his mistress wakes  words by Sir W Davenant
'Musik als Troterin'  (To music, to becalm his fever)  vocal quartet  Op.3 words by Richard Herrick  pub. by Breitkopf & Hartel
Four part-songs  Op.5:
1. A Love Sonnet  words by G Wither pub. by Leonard & Co
2. Rosalind's Madrigal    pub. by Leonard & Co
3. Go, pretty birds  words by T Heywood pub. by Leonard & Co.
4. Good-morrow  words by T Heywood pub. by Leonard & Co.
At Last  words by Whittier  Op.19  pub. by Stainer & Bell and also by Stanley Lucas & Co.

Voice and Orchestra

The Jackdaw of Rheims  for chorus and orchestra Op.8   pub. by Novello, Ewer & Co
The Lay of St. Cuthbert  for chorus and orchestra Op.13   pub. by Novello, Ewer & Co
In the Garden   for soprano, tenor, female chorus and orchestra  Op.18  words by R Buchanan 1914 pub by Cary & Co.

Church

Communion Service  Op.20   pub. by Stainer & Bell 1917
Communion Service in A Op.24   pub. by Novello, Ewer & Co.
A Morning and Evening service in E flat (Te Deum, Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc dimittis) Op.12   pub. by Vincent Music Co.
Hail, Happy Day - Christmas Carol  words by J. Brett  pub. by Novello, Ewer & Co 1889

Organ

Sonata in F minor  Op.23  pub. by Augener1922


¹
Joseph  Templeman Speer    died 1876
William Henry Speer 1863-1937
Alfred Ernest Speer 1865-
Frederick Arthur Speer 1869-1940

²
Alfred Henry Loraine Templeman Speer  5.4.1894-1916 
Viola Marion Loraine  10.8.1896
Margaret Betty Theodora Loraine  1907
Roy Francis Powys Malise  1911

[hart_caroline@sky.com]

William Henry Speer was my grandfather, although he died before I was born.   I have his sheet music and have always felt sadness at the neglect of his compositions.   There are one or two factual faults in the information given which I might be able to correct.   However, it is very gratifying to find he has not been entirely forgotten.   Caroline Hart (nee Speer).

[Alan Howe]

Welcome, Caroline, to UC! How interesting to hear from you. Can you tell us anything about your grandfather's music - the Symphony, for example?

[hart_caroline@sky.com]

How I wish I could.   I have only the scores which I found at the Bodleian, which include the Rhapsody, the Cinderella suite, the organ sonata and The Jackdaw of Rheims.
My grandfather actually had four children, of whom the eldest, whom you list, was Alfred Henry Loraine, who died at the age of 22 in the First World War.   My father, Roy, Francis, Powys, Malise Speer, was the youngest.   He became a BBC Light Programme producer.   Sadly, he was not family minded and now here I am, the end of the line.
I see there was a Speer Memorial Library attached to the Hastings Municipal Orchestra, which probably doesn't exist any more.   Maybe I could chase up that clue.

[Alan Howe]

That would be great, yes.

Can you tell us anything about the music which you do have?

[Gareth Vaughan]

Dear Caroline,
Are the scores you have printed scores or manuscripts? I ask because I can find no record of the Rhapsody for orchestra having been published. Also, is The Jackdaw of Rheims the full orchestral score or the vocal score; and is the Cindarella Suite an orchestral score or a piano reduction?
COPAC does not show any library holding for the Rhapsody or the Cindarella Suite.

[giles.enders]

I found it quite difficult to research your grandfather's life.  The misspelling of names is due to the fact that I was working from original hand written records.  I believe your grandfather had a cousin who was also a composer, Charles Templeman Speer.  It would be helpful if you could list or send me direct, details of the sheet music which you have.  I wonder if you have a picture of him, which you could post on this site.

[hart_caroline@sky.com]

Dear Gareth,
I have a bound printed copy of the full score of the Rhapsody in Eflat for Orchestra.   I also have a bound copy of the Cinderella suite for orchestra, together with parts.   Also Cinderella arrangement for Piano.  And autograph copy for two trombones. 
The Jackdaw I think I photocopied from the Bodleian - The Novello Original Octavo edition.  Chorus and small orchestra.
Ditto the Organ sonata originally published by Augener.
Ditto:  Caprice (Ascherberg Hopwood & Crew)
I also copied if I recall correctly, just some of the songs: e.g. Where Delia Is (Teschemacher). The Cradle Song (Novello). What the Bullet Sang (Novello). 
I believe I didn't take any more copies because I couldn't carry them, but of course everything was out of copyright.   Maybe there is still something left at the Bodleian.

[hart_caroline@sky.com]

Yes, Giles, I do have a photograph and also the dates of birth and death that you requested from me.   I have been working on the family tree this afternoon and will post them shortly to you.   It is complicated in that there is a Charlton Templeman Speer who was also a composer of about the same vintage.

[Anthony Wilson]

This post is really interesting - I'm Director of Music at St Peter's Bexhill and we have some of WH Speer's music in our library.  We're planning to perform his Te Deum in Eb in Westminster Abbey in August 2016, which may be of interest to you.  Definitely a neglected piece.

[Alan Howe]

Welcome to UC. Thanks very much for advertising your forthcoming performance of Speer's Te Deum.

[giles.enders]

Could you specify which works you have as this will be useful for future reference.  I will also alert his granddaughter about the performance in Westminster Abbey.  Do you have a date ?

[hart_caroline@sky.com]

I am thrilled to see this post.   I shall be down in Sussex during the last two weeks of July and would love to come to St. Peter's Bexhill if possible to see the rest of the church music of W.H. Speer.   Hope to be able to attend at Westminster Abbey as well.   Caroline Hart.