John O'Neill Gerrish
John O. Gerrish c.1950
John O. Gerrish 2010
John O'Neill (Jack) Gerrish (August 31,
1910 November 29, 2010) was an American composer of the
20th century, best known for The Falcon, a cappella piece
for SATB based on the Middle or Early Modern English Corpus
Christi Carol.
Early life
Gerrish was the son of Charles Percy Gerrish and Mary
Elizabeth O'Neill of Potsdam, New York. He graduated from Crane
School of Music in 1930, and led a dance band during the 1930s.
He taught for ten years at Franklin Academy in Malone, New York
and was a professor of music at Kean University in New Jersey for
most of his career.
Music
In addition to The Falcon, Gerrish's better-known
works include Variations on a Burgundian Carol for 3 Recorders,
based on the carol Patapan, published in New York by Associated
Music Publishers in 1957. Reviewer, Joel Newman, called the work
"neatly-constructed, fun-to-play, but merely-cute
variations." Other published compositions include Why do
the Bells of Christmas Ring? (1952) a capella choir, I
Sing A Maiden (1953), Fifteen Christmas Melodies for
soprano recorder and piano (1954), and the piano solos Country
Dance, Mountain Climbing and South Wind (1954).
The Music Educators Journal published a detailed
article and interview "A Family Program for Voices,
Recorders, and Viols: The Gerrish Family" in 1962. The New
York State Teachers Association, Northern Zone, lists John
Gerrish as Chairman of Music Section in Malone, New York,
September 29, 1939.
Personal life
Gerrish married twice. After the death of his first wife,
Marion Benham of Saranac Lake, he married Claire Stackpole of
Winooski. Following his retirement, Gerrish was the
organist at the Winooski United Methodist Church for twenty
years. He died on November 29, 2010 and is buried at St. Mary's
Cemetery, Potsdam.
References
Music Educators Journal,
Vol. 43, No. 1 (Sep., 1956), pp. 67
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Notes, 2nd Ser., Vol. 16,
No. 4 (Sep., 1959), pp. 627-628
Music Educators Journal,
Vol. 48, No. 4 (Feb., 1962), pp. 98-99
Music Educators Journal,
Vol. 26, No. 1 (Sep., 1939), pp. 70-72