Basil Harwood

Basil Harwood (11 April 1859 – 3 April 1949) was an organist and composer in the English church music tradition, best known today for his liturgical works, particularly his anthem O How Glorious is the Kingdom (1898) and his Service in A flat (1892), which still remain popular in English churches. He wrote numerous hymn tunes, several of which became well-known including Luckington (“Let All the World in Every Corner Sing”) and Thornbury (“O Jesus I Have Promised” and “Thy hand, O God, has guided”). Early life Basil Harwood was born on 11 April 1859 at Woodhouse, Olveston, Gloucestershire, the youngest child of Edward Harwood (1818–1907), a banker. His mother Mary, née Sturge (1840–1867), was of Quaker extraction, and Harwood was brought up in that faith until a switch to Anglicanism in 1869 following his father’s second marriage. Education As a boy, Harwood attended Walton Lodge preparatory school in Clevedon, followed in 1864 by Charterhouse. In 1876 he won a scholarship to Trinity College, Oxford, where he was placed in the second class in classical moderations (1879) and the third in modern history (1881). He took his music degree (BMus) in 1880, studying with C. W. Corfe, then