Introduction

Biography

Born in­to a mu­sic­al fa­mi­ly, George was the son of John El­vey and Abi­gail Har­di­man, brother of com­pos­er and or­gan­ist Ste­phen El­vey, and hus­band of Har­ri­ette Skeats, daugh­ter of his tu­tor, High­more Skeats (mar­ried June 19, 1838).

He start­ed his ca­reer as a boy, sing­ing at Can­ter­bu­ry Ca­thed­ral. Lat­er, he re­ceived for­mal train­ing at the Can­ter­bu­ry Ca­thed­ral School, the Roy­al Aca­de­my of Mu­sic un­der Ci­pri­ani Pot­ter and Will­iam Crotch, and Ox­ford Uni­ver­si­ty (MB 1838, MD 1840).

Around 1835, he was ap­point­ed Mas­ter of the Boys and or­gan­ist at St. George’s Cha­pel, Wind­sor, serv­ing there al­most half a cen­tu­ry. His tune St. George’s Wind­sor takes its name from this lo­ca­tion.

Elvey was knight­ed in 1871 for his Fes­tiv­al March, played at the wed­ding of Prin­cess Lou­ise.