Joseph Humfrey Anger was a Canadian organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

, pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

, conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, and music educator of English birth. His compositional output consists mainly of church music and works for solo piano and organ. Some of his more well known works are A Concert Overture for organ (1895), the patriotic song Hail Canada (1911), and Tintamarre, Morceau de Salon (1911), all of which were published by Whaley, Royce & Co. The latter piece was notably the first published classical composition to thoroughly integrate true tone cluster

Tone cluster

A tone cluster is a musical chord comprising at least three consecutive tones in a scale. Prototypical tone clusters are based on the chromatic scale, and are separated by semitones. For instance, three adjacent piano keys struck simultaneously produce a tone cluster...

s. He also wrote the textbooks Form in Music and A Treatise on Harmony, both of which were widely used in music schools in North America.

Life and career

Born in Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, Anger studied at the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 where he earned a Bachelor of Music

Bachelor of Music

Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...

. He began his career as a school teacher and a church organist-choirmaster in his native country. He was notably the conductor of the Ludlow Choral and Orchestral Society for several years. In 1897 his cantata

Cantata

A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....

 A Song of Thanksgiving was awarded the Jubilee Prize by the Bath Philharmonic Society. In 1890 his madrigal

Madrigal (music)

A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....

 Bonnie Belle won the London Madrigal Society Prize.

In 1893 Anger emigrated to Canada when he was appointed to the music faculty of the Toronto Conservatory of Music where he was made head of the music theory department. He also worked as an examiner for the University of Trinity College

University of Trinity College

The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...

 for many years. In 1894 he was appointed organist-choirmaster at the Church of the Ascension, leaving there in 1896 to assume a similar position at Old St Andrew's Presbyterian Church

St. Andrew's Church (Toronto)

St. Andrew's Church, 73 Simcoe Street, Toronto is a large and historic Romanesque Revival Presbyterian church in downtown Toronto, Canada.-History:...

. He left St Andrew's in 1902 when he became organist-choirmaster at Central Methodist Church.

From 1896-1898 Anger served as the conductor of the Toronto Philharmonic. He was appointed president of the Canadian Society of Musicians in 1895 and was for several years the dean of the Ontario chapter of the American Guild of Organists

American Guild of Organists

The American Guild of Organists, or AGO, is a national organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the U.S., headquartered in The Interchurch Center in New York City. It was founded in 1896 as both an educational and service organization...

. He died in Toronto in 1913 eight days after his 51st birthday.