Ouseley, Sir Frederick (Arthur) Gore

Ouseley, Sir Frederick (Arthur) Gore, English organist, pianist, music theorist, and composer; b. London, Aug. 12, 1825; d. Hereford, April 6, 1889. He was the son of Sir Gore Ouseley, ambassador to Persia and Russia. He studied classics and theology with James Joyce, vicar of Dorking (1840–43). He inherited his father’s title of baronet (1844) and his considerable wealth, then completed his education at Christ Church, Oxford (B.A., 1846; M.A., 1849; D.Mus., 1854). He was ordained a priest in 1849. Ouseley was curate at St. Barnabas, Pimlico (1849–51), and also founded the Coll. of St. Michael and All Angels, Tenbury (1854), serving as warden and vicar of the new parish. He was also made precentor of Hereford Cathedral (1855), and later canon residentiary there (1886); likewise was prof, of music at the Univ. of Oxford (1855–89). He was a fine organist, and excelled in fugai improvisation. Among his compositions are an opera, L’isola disabitata (1834), and other secular vocal works, three overtures, two oratorios, numerous anthems, church services, chamber music, organ works, and piano pieces. He pubi. A Treatise on Harmony (1868), A Treatise on Counterpoint, Canon, and Fugue, based on Cherubini (1869), and A Treatise on Musical Form and General Composition (1875). He left his fine music library to St. Michael’s Coll., Tenbury.

Bibliography

F. Havergal, Memorials of FA.G. O., Bart. (London, 1889); F. Joyce, Life of Rev. Sir F.A.G. O., Bart., etc. (London, 1896); W. Shaw, ed., Sir F. O. and St Michael’s, Tenbury: A Chapter in the History of English Church Music and Ecclesiology (Birmingham, 1988).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire