Harry Benjamin Jepson
BornAugust 16, 1870
DiedAugust 23, 1952(1952-08-23) (aged 82)
Education
Occupation(s)Organist and composer
SpouseIsabella James

Harry Benjamin Jepson (August 16, 1870 August 23, 1952) was an American organist and composer and (starting in 1906) the first University Organist of Yale University.[1]

Jepson was born August 16, 1870, in New Haven, Connecticut.[2] Jepson studied at Yale under Horatio Parker and Gustave Stoeckel, earning a B.A. in 1893 and a B.M. in 1894. While at Yale he was the organist for New Haven's Christ Church (in 1889) and Old Center Church (from 1890 to 1894 where he was succeeded by Charles Ives).[3][4] He then studied in Paris under Charles Marie Widor and Louis Vierne.

He was appointed instructor at Yale in 1895, eventually rising to a full professorship in 1907.[2][5] He also directed the Battell Chapel choir.[6] He retired in 1939; Charles Kullman was among the performers at the musical service in held for his retirement.[7]

Among his students were Edward Shippen Barnes, Seth Bingham, and Edwin Arthur Kraft.[5]

Jepson died August 23, 1952, in Noank, Connecticut.[2] He was succeeded by Luther Noss as University Organist.[8]

Yale's Harry B. Jepson Memorial Scholarship is named after him, and he oversaw the design and construction of the renowned Newberry Memorial Organ in Yale's Woolsey Hall, as well as its 1915-1917 and 1929 renovations.[8]

Selected works

  • Ballade for organ (c.1907), dedicated to Florence Annette Wells, New Haven area organist and 1900 Yale graduate.[9][10]
  • Veni, Sancte Spiritus, anthem for chorus and organ.[7]

References

  1. "A New Endowment to Secure the Future of The Newberry Memorial Organ / Woolsey Hall Archived 2012-12-05 at the Wayback Machine" Accessed June 21, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "Selected Compositions of Harry Benjamin Jepson; Misc. Ms. 216". Yale University Library.
  3. Perlis, Vivian (1975). Charles Ives remembered: an oral history (2. print ed.). New Haven: Yale Univ. Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-300-01758-8.
  4. Benjamin, W. H. (1908). Biographies of Celebrated Organists of America. Albany, New York: Benjamin Publishing Company. p. 77.
  5. 1 2 "Edwin Arthur Kraft of Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland" (PDF). The Diapason. 34 (3): 1. February 1, 1943.
  6. "Collection: Selected Compositions of Harry Benjamin Jepson ; | Archives at Yale". archives.yale.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  7. 1 2 "Musical Service at Yale in Honor of Dr. H. B. Jepson" (PDF). The Diapason. 30 (7): 1. June 1, 1939.
  8. 1 2 Murray, Thomas (June 2013). "The Newberry Memorial Organ, Yale". Organists' Review. 99 (2): 6–11 via Academic Search Complete.
  9. "[Ballade] Ballade for organ / [New York] : G. Schirmer, c1907. | Archives at Yale". archives.yale.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  10. e-yearbook.com (tm). "Yale University - Banner / Pot Pourri Yearbook (New Haven, CT), Class of 1900, Pages 126 - 143 *". e-yearbook.com. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
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