Godfrey Sampson

Godfrey Sampson (1 June 1902 – 21 June 1949) was an English composer and organist, best remembered for his church and choral music. Sampson was born in Gloucester, the son of a clergyman, In 1932 he became a professor of composition there. While still a student Sampson composed a Cello Sonata that was performed by Douglas Cameron and Harry Isaacs at Grotrian Hall, Wigmore Street in 1926. This was followed by the Symphony in D, which was premiered at the Royal Academy in 1927 and repeated at the Henry Wood Proms in 1928, conducted by the composer. Isaacs was also the soloist in Sampson’s Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra, broadcast on 8 June 1932 by the BBC Orchestra, conducted by Victor Hely-Hutchinson. However, most of his output in the 1930s consisted of short choral works, regularly published by Novello. A recital of his vocal and choral music was broadcast by BBC Radio on 23 June 1935, conducted by Leslie Woodgate. Sampson returned to larger form composition towards the end of his life with the Suite for Strings (1946), and a 15-minute setting of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Bells for eight part choir and orchestra (1946). In the 1920s, Sampson was an organist at his father