H.C. Hamilton

Hamilton, H.C.

Hamilton, H.C. (Henry Cooke). Composer, writer, organist-choirmaster, b England 24 Jan 1881, d Sudbury, Ont, 23 Mar 1975. Raised in Ireland and in the USA, Hamilton was taken to Mimico (Toronto) as a youth and later studied at the TCM with A.S. Vogt and J.D.A. Tripp. He was organist-choirmaster during the 1920s at churches in Lindsay and North Bay, Ont, and subsequently at various Toronto churches, before serving 1963-74 at Queen St United, Toronto. He also taught at the Hambourg Conservatory. He wrote many hymns, including four published (1931, 1948) by Waterloo. His Familiar Melodies, a folio of arrangements for organ, was published in 1937 by Harris. Other compositions listed in the Catalogue of Canadian Composers include Variations on 'O Canada' and Variations on 'The Maple Leaf For Ever'. Hamilton contributed articles to The Etude, Choir Herald, Musical Courier, and Musical Canada. For the latter publication 1928-31 he wrote a series of biographies of Canadian musicians - including Mona Bates, J. W. Bearder, T.J. Crawford, Ernest Dainty, W.O. Forsyth, Albert Ham, Boris Hambourg, F.J. Horwood, Luigi von Kunits, Ernest MacMillan, Percival Price, Harvey Robb, Léo Roy, Herbert Sanders, Bertha Tamblyn, F.H. Torrington, A.S. Vogt, Charles Wheeler, Alfred Whitehead, and Healey Willan.