Introduction

Biography

William was the eldest son of Brit­ish prime min­is­ter Will­iam E. Glad­stone.

He at­tend­ed Eton Col­lege and read Greek and La­tin at Christ Church Col­lege, Ox­ford Uni­ver­si­ty.

He was a Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment for a to­tal of 20 years, rep­re­sent­ing Ches­ter for 3; Whit­by, York­shire for 12; and East Wor­ces­ter­shire for 5.

He was al­so a sing­er and or­gan­ist, well versed in mu­sic­al his­to­ry, es­pe­cial­ly the de­vel­op­ment of Ang­li­can church mu­sic.

He wrote on mu­sic­al to­pics, and one of the views he ex­pressed was that cho­ral church ser­vic­es were to be de­plored be­cause the choirs oft­en dis­cour­age the con­gre­ga­tions from sing­ing.

Works

He wrote the an­thems Gra­cious and Right­eous and With­draw Not Thou, plus chants, an­thems, in­troits and or­gan vol­un­tar­ies. His oth­er works in­clude:

• A Se­lec­tion of Hymns and Tunes, 1882