BEST, WILLIAM THOMAS (1826-1897)

This article appears in Volume V03, Page 824 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BER-BLA

BEST, WILLIAM THOMAS (1826-1897) , English organist, the son of a solicitor, was born at

Carlisle

CARLISLE
CARLISLE, EARLS OF

on the 13th of August 1826. Having decided upon a musical career, he received his first instruction from the cathedral organist. He applied himself especially to Bach's music, and became a player of great skill. His successive appointments were to Pembroke chapel,

Liver

LIVER (O. Eng. lifer; cf. cognate forms, Dutch lever, Ger. Leber, Swed. lefver, &c.; the O. H. Ger. forms are libara, lipora, &c.; the Teut. word has been connected with Gr. i'prap and Lat. jecur)

-pool, 184o; to a church for the blind, 1847, and the Liverpool Philharmonic Society, 1848. For a short time (18541855) he was in London at the Panopticon in Leicester Square, the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and Lincoln's Inn chapel. In 1855he returned to Liverpool as organist of St George's

Hall

, where his performances rapidly became famous throughout England. Ill-health compelled him at last to retire in 1894. He was engaged as solo organist at all the Handel festivals at the Crystal Palace, and also as organist at the Albert

Hall

, where he inaugurated the great organ in 1871. He had been in the receipt of a civil

list

LIST (O.E.
lisle
- LISLE, ALICE (c. 1614-1685)
, a Teutonic word, cf. Dut. lust, Ger. Leiste, adapted in Ital. lista and Fr.
lisle
- LISLE, ALICE (c. 1614-1685)
)
LIST, FRIEDRICH (1789-1846)

pension of lroo a year since 188o, and in 1890 went to Australia to give organ recitals in the town hall of Sydney. Best died at Liverpool on the loth of May 1897.
His command over all the resources of his own

instrument

INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

was masterly; his

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

of Saturday recitals at St George's Hall, carried on for many years, included the whole field of organ music, and of music that could be arranged for the organ, ancient and modern; and his performances of Bach's organ works were particularly fine. His own compositions for the organ, chiefly comprised in the publication entitled Organ Pieces for Church Use, have a strong and marked individuality. Best, unlike many soloists, was an all-round musician, and fully acquainted with every branch of the art. His bust, by

Conrad

Dressler, has been placed on the platform in front of the

Liver

LIVER (O. Eng. lifer; cf. cognate forms, Dutch lever, Ger. Leber, Swed. lefver, &c.; the O. H. Ger. forms are libara, lipora, &c.; the Teut. word has been connected with Gr. i'prap and Lat. jecur)

-pool organ, as a memorial of his long

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

of performances there.

End of Article: BEST, WILLIAM THOMAS (1826-1897)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/BER_BLA/BEST_WILLIAM_THOMAS_1826_1897_.html">
BEST, WILLIAM THOMAS (1826-1897)
</a>

(Previous)
BESSUS

(Next)
BESTIA

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email