by Clarence Zuvekas
Sunday, May 5 — Returning from our post-Easter break, we will follow tradition and sing This Joyful Eastertide, a harmonization by Charles Wood (1866-1926) of a Dutch tune published in 1685. It appears in our Hymnal as No. 192, with a text by the Anglican priest, George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848-1934).
Charles Wood was born in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, and studied with noted composers Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London. Later, as a Professor at the RCM and Cambridge, Wood taught Ralph Vaughan Williams (more about him in our May 19 service) and Herbert Howells. Although best-known for his sacred music, he wrote eight string quartets, co-edited (with Woodward) three books of carols, and founded the Irish Folk Song Society.