George Frederick Perry

George Frederick Perry (1793 – 4 March 1862) was a British violinist and organist, and composer of operas and oratorios. He was musical director of the Haymarket Theatre, and later was leader of the orchestra of the Sacred Harmonic Society.

Perry was born in Norwich in 1793; his father was a turner and an amateur bass singer who took part in the annual performance of an oratorio at the cathedral, under John Christmas Beckwith. Through Beckwith, Perry became a member of the cathedral choir, and his musical ability was noticed. Perry locally learned violin and piano, also harmony and composition.

About 1818 Perry became leader of the orchestra at the Theatre Royal, Norwich, then an institution enjoying a high reputation. Perry wrote an oratorio, The Death of Abel (text by George Bennett of the Norwich Theatre), which was first performed in Norwich, and afterwards repeated by the Sacred Harmonic Society in 1841 and 1845. Shortly after his appointment to the theatre he wrote another oratorio, Elijah and the Priests of Baal, to a text by James Plumptre, which was first performed in Norwich on 12 March 1819.

About 1822 Perry was appointed musical director of the Haymarket Theatre in London, where he wrote a number of operas. His comic opera Morning, Noon, and Night, with libretto by Thomas John Dibdin, included Madame Vestris in the cast; its opening night was 9 September 1822.

A few years later he produced the oratorio The Fall of Jerusalem, the text compiled from a poem by Henry Hart Milman. A song from the oratorio, "Fair are the flowers", was reviewed in 1828: "The song perhaps cannot be said to contain either novel or striking ideas, yet it is by no means commonplace, for there is a prevailing good taste which uniformly preserves it from falling into the beaten track of everyday compositions."

While still holding his appointment at the Haymarket, Perry became organist of the Quebec Chapel, and later, from 1846, organist of Trinity Church, Gray's Inn Road.

In 1832 the Sacred Harmonic Society, an amateur choral society, was founded in London, and Perry was chosen as leader of the orchestra. It performed sacred works, particular those of Handel. At their first concert, on 15 January 1833, the programme contained a selection from Perry's oratorios The Fall of Jerusalem and The Death of Abel. From 1836 the Society gave concerts in the Exeter Hall in London. Perry was connected with the society until 1848; during his time there, Perry was never absent from a performance.

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