Article

William Augustus Montgomery

Published Online July 5, 2007

Last Edited December 5, 2013

William Augustus Montgomery. Organist-choirmaster, composer, b Hawick, Scotland, 25 Nov 1872, d Halifax, NS, 18 Dec 1948; LTCM 1894, B MUS (Durham) 1897, LRAM 1905, FRCO 1910. He studied piano, organ, and theory in Great Britain with Charles Edward Allum, G.H.

Montgomery, William Augustus

William Augustus Montgomery. Organist-choirmaster, composer, b Hawick, Scotland, 25 Nov 1872, d Halifax, NS, 18 Dec 1948; LTCM 1894, B MUS (Durham) 1897, LRAM 1905, FRCO 1910. He studied piano, organ, and theory in Great Britain with Charles Edward Allum, G.H. Haselock, Arthur William Marchant, and A. Eaglefield Hull. After serving as organist-choirmaster of Gainsborough parish church in England, he emigrated to Canada in 1913. He was organist-choirmaster 1913-14 at St Peter's Church, Sherbrooke, Que; 1914-21 at the pro-Cathedral, Calgary; and 1921-42 at All Saints Cathedral, Halifax, becoming organist emeritus there on his retirement. His compositions - of which more than 100 were published and some 20 are listed in the Catalogue of Canadian Composers - include works for organ, piano, violin and piano, and choir. His publishers were Novello, Waterloo, Mozart Allan (Glasgow), Ditson, J. Schirmer, and others.