Henry Coward › Hymnals

Sir Henry (Harry) Coward DM United Kingdom 1849-1944. Born at Liverpool, England, the son of a pub owner and entertainer, he served an apprenticeship at Sheffield as a pen blade maker. He first learned music when a lodger at his home taught him the flute. Though uneducated, he became a teacher at Greaseborough School, and later a head teacher, earning his degrees at Oxford (DM in 1894). He married Mary Eliza Coward, and they had eight children. He conducted the Huddersfield choral society for 30 years and is credited with reviving the tonic-sol-fa method used with singers from the mills and factories who cound not read music. He conducted Whit Sunday sings in Sheffield, including a choir performance for Queen Victoria of 60,000 children. He was chorus master of the Sheffield Music Festival and conducted societies in Leeds, Huddersfield, Newcastle and Glasgow. He toured worldwide with the Sheffield Choir. He also taught music at Sheffield Training College and lectured at the University of Sheffield. He became a Freeman of Sheffield in 1920 and was knighted by King George V in 1927 for his services to music. He was President of the Tonic-Sol-fa College in London for 15 years. He also traveled the world (34,000 miles) with his famous choir (200 people), giving 134 concerts in six countries in 1911. The trip was financed by philanthropist, Dr. Charles Hariss, who joined the choir as assistant conductor. Coward remained conductor of the choir for 57 years, considered one of the best ever. He also wrote a work: “Choral technique and interpretation”, 1914. Late in life, after the dealth of Eliza, he married Louisa Hannah Coward.

John Perry