Henry John Gauntlett
Henry John Gauntlett wrote more than a thousand hymn tunes, among them Irby, the melody almost always paired with the Christmas carol Once in Royal David's City. His church music was shaped for congregational singing and the organ loft.
Irby’s plain, stepwise line has carried Cecil Frances Alexander’s words through countless Christmas services, and it is the tune by which Gauntlett is still most often heard. He also wrote extensively for organ and edited hymn books, aiming to lift the standard of parish music in both sound and practice. Practical work on the instrument ran alongside the composing: church posts in London, organ design, and even a patented electrical-action apparatus. On record his name surfaces where carols and hymnody are gathered, the writing spare enough to sit with voices, mandolin, or small ensemble without losing its church character.
Compositions by Henry John Gauntlett appear on
Sing Together Alleluia
Hymns sung by the Sing Alleluia Music Ministry Team, drawn from Sing Alleluia, appear in Together in Song: Australian Hymn Book II. The selection favours material not already on the earlier two-disc companion set.
Mandolin Christmas
Christmas songs for mandolin orchestra. Arguably Australia’s most acclaimed mandolinist, Kurt Jensen leads an international programme of sparkling carols, from mediaeval favourites to modern classics.