George Oldroyd

Who was George Oldroyd?

Dr. George Oldroyd was an English organist and composer of Anglican church music. He was organist of St. Alban's Church, Holborn from 1919 to 1920, and then of St Michael's Church, Croydon from 1920 until his death in 1956. Both are churches firmly rooted within the Anglo-Catholic tradition in the Church of England. He composed numerous settings of the mass, but is best remembered for his "Mass of the Quiet Hour" composed in 1928, whose swooping melodies and lush harmonies recall the "Palm Court" style of that era. It was dedicated to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Cosmo Gordon Lang, in whose diocese St. Michael's at that time lay, and is still part of the repertoire of many English cathedrals and parish churches.

He was the author of The Technique And Spirit Of Fugue: An Historical Study, published in 1948.