{{Short description|English musician (1881–1961)}} {{Use British English|date=November 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} '''Henry Ernest Geehl''' [pronounced 'Gale'] (28 September 1881{{spaced ndash}}14 January 1961) was an English pianist, conductor, composer and arranger.

Born in London in 1881, Geehl studied piano with Benno Schönberger and R. O. Morgan<ref name=bach/> in London, and with Anton Schlieber in Vienna.<ref>[http://www.organ-biography.info/index.php?id=Geehl_Henry_1881 Biographical Dictionary of the Organ]</ref> He toured as a pianist and theatre conductor, and in 1919 joined the Trinity College of Music as a teacher,<ref name=bach/> where he remained on staff as a teacher until a year before his death.<ref>[http://www.biblioz.com/lp25762365271_0 Biblioz.com]{{Dead link|date=November 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> His students included Pete Moore, Eric Parkin, William Lovelock and Nicholas Temperley. He also became music editor for the Edwin Ashdown and Enoch publishing firm. In later life he lived at Coleshill, near Beaconsfield, Bucks, where he gave private lessons in piano, violin, and composition.

Henry Geehl had an affinity with music written for brass bands. He arranged Gustav Holst's ''A Moorside Suite''<ref name=herbert/> for brass band, made many other arrangements and transcriptions, and was the first composer to write serious symphonic music directly for brass band. His ''Scena Sinfonica'', in the style of an operatic selection, has been used as a test piece for brass bands.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=O6-iHNQwga8C&dq=henry+geehl+1961&pg=PA107 Roy Newsome, The Modern Brass Band: From the 1930s to the new millennium]</ref> He made claims to have scored Edward Elgar's ''The Severn Suite'' for brass band from the composer's rough sketches, but Geehl's account of his involvement with Elgar has now been exposed<ref>See Kay : "The Severn Suite — Manuscripts, Music and Myths" in the [http://elgar.org/elgarsoc/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Vol.-18-No.-3-December-2013-Compressed.pdf Elgar Society Journal for December 2013] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402151507/http://elgar.org/elgarsoc/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Vol.-18-No.-3-December-2013-Compressed.pdf |date=2 April 2015 }}.</ref> as a self-serving fantasy.<ref name=herbert>[https://books.google.com/books?id=oolPwnvevRUC&dq=henry+geehl+1881&pg=PA249 Trevor Herbert, The British Brass Band: A Musical and Social History]</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20121218012439/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XYBNhtGjVAoJ:www.nabbabridge.org/bridge/back_issues/NABBA_Bridge_57.PDF+henry+geehl+1881&cd=55&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au Official Journal of the North American Brass Band Association, Inc, August 1994]</ref>

His other works include a symphony, concertos for piano and violin,<ref name=bach/> ''Suite espagnole'', ''Comedy Overture'', ''In Fairyland'', ''On the Cornish Coast, Rhapsody for band'', ''Prince Charlie – 1745'', piano pieces and songs.

His song "For You Alone" ("Für dich allein"; words by P. J. O'Reilly) achieved great popularity, being recorded by Enrico Caruso,<ref>[http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.110720 Naxos]</ref> Lauritz Melchior,<ref>[http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.111239 Naxos]</ref> Jussi Björling<ref>[http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.110740 Naxos]</ref> and Mario Lanza,<ref>[http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.120668 Naxos]</ref> among others. (It has been claimed that "For You Alone" was the only song ever sung in English by Caruso<ref name=bach/> but that is contradicted by other evidence, such as his recording of George M. Cohan's "Over There", and his His Master's Voice recording - in heavily accented English - of Arthur Sullivan's "The Lost Chord".).

Henry Geehl also wrote some film scores, including the original music for ''The Magic Bow'' (1946)<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039594/fullcredits#cast ImdB: The Magic Bow]</ref> and for ''Jassy'' (1947).<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039509/fullcredits#cast IMdB: Jassy]</ref>

An arrangement by Geehl of Johann Strauss II's ''The Blue Danube'' was recorded by Richard Tauber<ref>[http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.120555 Naxos]</ref> and Florence Foster Jenkins.<ref>[http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.120711 Naxos]</ref> He also arranged Edward Elgar's ''Idylle'', Op. 4, ''Adieu'' and ''Serenade'' for orchestra;<ref name=mw>[http://www.musicweb-international.com/Elgarlighter.html Classical Music on the Web]</ref> Charles Williams's ''The Dream of Olwen'' for three voices; George H. Clutsam's ''Ma Curly Headed Babby''; ''My Heart and I'' and other songs from Richard Tauber's ''Old Chelsea''; May Brahe's ''To a Miniature'' and ''I Passed by your Window'';<ref name=ma/> Richard Addinsell's ''Warsaw Concerto'', selections from Delibes' ''Sylvia'', and César Franck's ''Symphonic Variations''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Search/Home?lookfor=author:%22Geehl,%20Henry%20Ernest,%201881-1961%22&iknowwhatimean=1&page=1 |title=National Library of Australia Catalogue |access-date=3 October 2009 |archive-date=14 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614123656/http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Search/Home?lookfor=author:%22Geehl,%20Henry%20Ernest,%201881-1961%22&iknowwhatimean=1&page=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He conducted Oscar Natzka's recording of "O Isis and Osiris" from Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'', and Handel's "The song of Hybrias the Cretan" and "Honour and Arms" (from ''Samson'').<ref name=ma>[http://www.musicaustralia.org/apps/MA?function=searchResults&term1=Geehl,%20Henry%20Ernest,&scope=scope&parameter1=phrase&location1=Anywhere Music Australia]</ref> Between 1939 and 1946 he conducted the orchestra for more than 90 recordings by Richard Tauber, made at the Abbey Road Studios in London. [Ref: Hansfried Sieben, Richard Tauber Discography, Wiesbaden, 1986]

Henry Geehl was reputed to be a "prickly individual".<ref name=mw/> Nicholas Temperley, who was taught by him from age 8 to 13, found him a genial teacher who told many interesting stories about musicians he had known, but was inclined to brag about his achievements and relations with famous musicians of the day. He died in 1961, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.<ref name=bach>[http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Geehl-Henry.htm Bach Cantatas]</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Sources== * H. C. Colles, Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed, 1954, Eric Blom, ed.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Geehl, Henry}} Category:1881 births Category:1961 deaths Category:20th-century British classical pianists Category:20th-century English male musicians Category:Brass band composers Category:English male conductors (music) Category:20th-century English conductors (music) Category:20th-century English classical pianists Category:British male classical pianists Category:20th-century male pianists Category:20th-century English composers