H.W. (“Will”) Gray II

JMG:  With H.W. Gray officially opening its doors in 1906, you’re clearly too young to have been there at that time!  But what were the early days like at H.W. Gray when you were a child?

HWG: I was probably 8 years old when my mother took my twin sister and me to the Gray Company building in New York City (159 East 48th Street) for the first of a few memorable restaurant lunches with my father (Donald) prior to me becoming a busy teenager  . . . memorable because those visits introduced me to: (1) a neat one-hour train ride; (2) the impressive five-story building where my father worked; (3) the huge/busy/confusing NYC; and (4) the people who worked with my father (specifically the office ladies who were always very sweet to "the president's twins").  Amazingly, some 18 years later a lot of those ladies were still there when I arrived in 1963 at age 26 (after college and the Navy) to help my father.  I'm guessing that this first trip to the Gray company in 1945 was made by my mother shortly after WWII ended.

In 1945 my grandfather was in poor health, had been succeeded by my father, and wasn't at the office (we visited him at: (1) his NYC townhouse on NYC's Upper East Side once; (2) his country home on the Connecticut River in Old Lyme, CT during a number of summers and falls; and once he came to my house in Darien, CT for lunch.  The twinkle in his eye at the time is one of a few vivid memories I have of him.

I also remember the family's memorial service shortly after my grandfather died in 1948.  I remember seeing many of the Gray Company employees there, all clearly disturbed with many in tears.

JMG:  What are a few of your favorite memories of working in the family business?

HWG:  During my 8 years at the Gray Company (1963-1971) I learned what it was that the family business did . . . how unique it was in the world of music . . . how even further specialized it was within the world of church music . . . and how respected both the catalogue, and my father, were among church musicians, sacred music customers, and fellow publishers of music for the church.  The many days when famous composers/church musicians came to visit (often followed by lunch at Manny Wolf's, a steak house a block from the office) were (and still are) special moments/memories.  Among those famous visitors (i.e., good friends of the catalogue, and of my father) were Ronald Arnatt, Roberta Bitgood, Mary Elizabeth Caldwell, Paul Callaway, Wayne Dirksen, Cecil Effinger, Arthur Greenfield, Gere Hancock, John La Montaine, Austin Lovelace, Jack Ossewaarde, Myron Roberts, Leo Sowerby, Charles Dodsley Walker, Elinor Remmick Warren, David H. Williams, M. Searle Wright and Alec Wyton. 

One of the highlights of every Christmas season was the performance of Handel’s “Messiah” at Carnegie Hall by the Oratorio Society.  The Company always had a mezzanine box for family and guests, and the performance each year was stirring.  My father sat on the board of the Oratorio Society for years, and the Board’s periodic evening’s meetings were held in the Gray Company’s building.  

The Gray Company’s major printer was Zabel Bros. of Philadelphia, and Bill Zabel always hosted a fun outing every summer.  Most of those events were centered around an ocean fishing trip out of either Brielle, NJ or Montauk, NY.  Some outings found us (my father Donald, my Uncle Geoff and me) attending a Yankees baseball game . . . and in 1964 we attended the first Mets game played in the new Shea Stadium.

JMG:  Do you have any fun or vivid memories of some of the famous composers who are represented in the H.W. Gray catalog?

HWG:  Leo Sowerby (1895-1968) Leo once related an intriguing story he was told by a NYC organist from one of the big churches (the name of the organist, and church, escape me).  As the story goes, one evening when locking the church's front door at the conclusion of his practice session, the organist noticed someone lying down asleep in the last pew.  He woke the down-on-his-luck senior citizen, explaining that he was the church's organist and was locking up the church for the night.  "No problem . . . I understand", said the sleeping visitor; and when at the front door he turned around and said, "Tell me . . . you being this church's organist, do you know any good Sowerby numbers?"  

Mary E. Caldwell (1909-2003) Mary was unique with me because she, like my wife Barbara, was an "Echo Lake girl".  This beautiful small lake nestled in the Sierra Nevada mountains near the south end of Lake Tahoe is where my wife's family (the "Greggs and Grays") have now had a cabin for 4 generations (since the 1920's).  The Caldwells have been there for almost as long, and neat was my surprise when I discovered, with my father's help, that I had "Echo Lake" in common with one of the company's composers.  When visiting Mary, and her husband Phillip, at their cabin a few times (both before and after the Gray Company was sold), it was always fun to realize that the Caldwells and the Greggs/Grays understood well the same special thing, i.e., Echo Lake is where God spends his summers.  

Roberta Bitgood (1908-2007) Roberta was raised in New London, CT and was a music student in both CT and NYC.  As a young woman, seeking to be published, she walked into my grandfather's office with her vocal solo, The Greatest of These Is Love.  It became her first of many published works, and over the years she was to make many other visits to the Gray Company.  She also became a periodic visitor to my grandfather's summer home in Old Lyme, CT (not far from New London).  The home was known as "Gray Gables", and sat high above the Connecticut River with 3 levels of terraced lawn between the house and the river).  Roberta got captured there during the famous hurricane of 1938; and, as she told me during one of our meetings, she remembers sitting in the Gray Gables' living room and reporting to her host and publisher, Willard Gray, that a large boat was about to enter the house.  The lightship on the Connecticut River had broken free of its anchor during the storm, and the super-high tide and prevailing winds were slowly bringing the ship closer and closer to Gray Gables as the water rose higher and higher.  In the end this large metal ship (a navigation aid on the river) stopped just short of the house, and gradually retreated toward where it had come as the high tide receded. . . but it got stranded on the lowest level of the terraced lawn.  So high out of the water was it that the Coast Guard was never able to figure out how to retrieve it, and eventually a team of welders cut it apart and removed it in pieces from my grandfather's property. 

JMG:  If you were to share the essence of your grandfather’s mission for H.W. Gray what might it be?

HWG:  As I came to understand it, the goal of the H.W. Gray Company was to publish music for the church that was of the highest standard, both musically and graphically.  Great pains (i.e., expenses) were taken to ensure that new publications (as in copyrighted works, and opposed to public domain editions) were presented correctly, and clearly, on the printed page.  That meant strong editing of both the music and text, and sharp engraving.  In other words, if the work was demanding musically, then it was equally important that it be properly presented graphically. 

JMG:  Thank you, Will, for your time today!  Jubilate Music Group is deeply honored to carry forth the publishing legacy of the H.W. Gray Family.  We celebrate and strive to maintain that “tradition of excellence” started by your grandfather in 1906 that was beautifully perpetuated by your father and you in subsequent decades.  We stand on your shoulders and the amazing writers then – and now – who are the pillars of that excellence.

HWG:  Thank you!  We are delighted and excited that the catalog and name have found its home at Jubilate Music Group where it is once again flourishing and vibrant.

Click here to read a brief history of the H.W. Gray Company.

H.W. Gray

The founder of the H.W. Gray Company, H. Willard Gray, was born in 1868 in Mortlake, England, a suburb in his day to the southwest of London but now a part of the Greater London city.  He was one of 11 siblings, 8 boys and 3 girls.  As a young man, he was an accountant for Novello, Ewer & Company, a long-time music publisher known well throughout Europe and the countries of the British Empire.  The strength of its multi-faceted catalog was found in sacred music where it emphasized choral and organ works for England’s Anglican church.

In the mid-1890s, Novello & Company was troubled by the lack of the required reports from its American branch in New York City which was located at 21 East 17^th Street.  When many letters, followed by cables, went unanswered, it became clear that they needed to send someone across the Atlantic to investigate the problem and assess the status of the agency’s business.  H.W. Gray was selected to do the job and traveled to the United States to do so.  He immediately discovered that the problem lay in the serious illness of the Englishman who was the Branch Manager.  The report explaining this which was cabled by H.W. Gray back to the home office in England was answered with a return cable that told Gray to “Do your best (to run the agency).  Help is on the way.”

Many months and then years later, the promised help was still “on the way.”  Meanwhile, the young accountant H.W. Gray continued to “do his best” and in time demonstrated to the home office an ability to run the branch properly.  So instead of sending help, the home office made him the new Branch Manager of Novello in New York City.

Initially, Novello’s “Sole Agent for the USA” in New York City was merely a store devoted to the promotion and sale of church music coming from England.  Music directors at large churches in NYC and other major cities in the United States were largely transplanted Englishmen, Welshmen, and Scotsmen and they were also the heart of the agency’s customers.  Because of their Anglican background, they gravitated towards positions in liturgical and mainline churches.  Those who were composers as well as choirmaster/organists began to write music specifically for the American market.  Willard Gray saw the need to be a publisher of church music, not just the representative of Novello.  So with Novello’s blessing he established the H.W. Gray Company in 1906 in New York City while continuing his ties with Novello & Company by being their “sole agent” in the USA for many years. H.W. Gray eventually parted with Novello in order to focus all his efforts on his burgeoning publishing company.  Decades of growth and success followed, along with the usual challenges of managing a publishing enterprise.

Willard Gray’s son Donald H. Gray eventually stepped in to take over the business (in 1948 upon the Willard’s death). Donald was assisted for years by his brother Geoffrey, and later by his son, H. W. Gray II. Click here to read an interview with H.W. Gray II.

        Donald H. Gray                                H.W. Gray II

Eventually, the H.W. Gray Company was sold to Belwin-Mills Publishing Corporation.  As publishing acquisitions and industry changes continued throughout the 90s and 2000s, the H.W. Gray catalog found its home with Jubilate Music Group in 2016.  

Recently, Liam Salziger, Production Manager of Jubilate Music Group, sat down to speak with composer/arranger Ellen Woods Bryce. 

LS:  Thank you for your time today, Ellen!  You’ve written a lot of music and lyrics through the years.  How did you get started as a composer?

EWB:  I’d have to say it began with a childhood that was filled with all kinds of musical experiences—piano lessons at age 7, singing in children’s choirs at church, and writing my first melodies in high school. I studied music education in college, and wrote my first real song during my last semester there. That desire to create music grew, and eventually I decided to study composition at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

LS:  With a lot of ancestry websites out there and seeming high interest in that topic these days, you were a bit ahead of your time when you first wrote this musical in the 1980s.   We’re thrilled to offer FAMILY TREE in a new, updated version.  What originally led you to choose the topic of family/ancestry and being a part God’s Family Tree?

EWB:  In the 1980’s, while working as an assistant music editor, that company needed someone to write a children’s musical quickly, because the original writer had a scheduling conflict. So, they asked me to do it. I was young and single, with no experience in leading, or writing for, children’s choirs. I was terrified! 

I knew that you should “write what you know” so I drew on my own childhood memories, and as a child I was very close to my grandparents. I was always fascinated by the stories they would tell about what it was like when they were young. I learned about my family tree from them. 

My parents and grandparents were strong Christians who modeled what it means to follow Jesus, and I had great teaching at church. When I was 9 years old, I realized I needed a personal relationship with Christ. I put my trust in Him, and my pastor and parents explained that being a Christian meant that I was now a part of God’s family.

LS:  By touching on the topics of adoption, divorce, communication, and over-scheduled kids in a children’s musical, you were really ahead of your time in this manner as well.  What compelled you to incorporate those important things?

EWB:  In writing Family Tree, I tried to touch on a few of things that families go through. No family is perfect—we argue, we fight, we sometimes say hurtful things. I also looked at some of the really difficult things, like divorce, and tried to think how they might seem through the eyes of a child. Oh, and since I have a cousin who is adopted, I thought about how that might feel, about how wonderful it is to be chosen, and what the Bible says about how God chose us in Christ. 

 LS:  What is the overriding message you want the children who present the musical and the audiences who hear it to walk away with?

EWB:  I want kids—and parents—to know that God loves them! He cares about our families, about what we’re going through, and—no matter what our situation is—God understands. He has provided a way—through his Son, Jesus Christ—for us to experience forgiveness, and to become a part of His own family. 

LS:  Thank you, Ellen.  We’re excited about “Family Tree” and honored to have your work in our catalog.  We look forward to more exciting projects in the future!

Click here to learn more about Ellen Woods Bryce.

Click here to visit the "Family Tree" product page.

The Choir as Community
By Patti Drennan

Musical groups are like sports teams; they endeavor to achieve a common goal and work closely together. They become an extension of each other’s families and can bond together not only in worship, but in times of celebration and grief. One idea that is beneficial in keeping connected with each other is to have a list of emails, cell numbers and birthdays gathered for each member. This list can be compiled from an enrollment card each person fills out when joining the choir. Also recorded could be the person’s interest in singing a solo or in an ensemble. When celebrations or concerns arise, it is important to acknowledge them with a phone call or card. This thoughtfulness will long be remembered. Identify the singers having a birthday at a monthly birthday party at the end of rehearsal. What a perfect way to fellowship with a sweet treat.

Our weekly choir handout, “Grace Notes”, includes information about our upcoming anthems and dates, monthly birthdays, prayer requests, a music joke and other pertinent facts. Attendance is taken by section leaders on rehearsal night and Sunday mornings. Near the exit is a sign-out sheet for singers to sign when they know they will be absent. (One Wednesday evening we sounded GLORIOUS as we prepared for an a cappella anthem for the following Sunday. Then Sunday came… but no tenors did, nor had they signed out. Fortunately, I asked my bass who is a band director to sightread the tenor part twenty minutes before we processed into the sanctuary. (Argh.) As a former high school choral director, I would have penalized a student’s grade for missing a performance. However, we are at a disadvantage since there is no such thing as after-church detention. Our city is in a university town and believe it or not, we must be aware of late-night or Bedlam ballgames that actually take precedence over church attendance. I have had to quickly alter an anthem when this happens.

While there are probably numerous anthems a director would like to program, the choir’s size may make it not possible for a number of reasons. One idea might be to establish a relationship with another church choir in town in order to work together, whether to perform a major work, to present an Independence Day celebration honoring the military, or even to bring a composer to present his or her music to the combined choirs. The choirs could split the costs that might otherwise not be financially feasible. These invitations might be done denominationally or even better, why not reach out to other choirs and allow everyone to learn from each other. In the case of my own choir, some opportunities have included participating in a “Festival of Spirituals”, presenting a combined “A Salute to the Vietnam Veterans” in our city park, joining for a choir performance with our neighboring church featuring composer and colleague Joseph Martin, and of course, presenting our celebrated “Patriotic Celebration” that has become a beloved event. In addition, many of our choir members signed up to sing in a Mass Choir on the beaches of Normandy and Lucerne Cemetery one year on July 4^th. Nothing is more humbling and powerful than singing to a sea of white crosses and knowing even without hearing applause, we have had an opportunity to say “Thank You for Your Service.” More and more opportunities to join together and make music are available and can become memorable events.

Community takes on another role for the director as we work to be caretakers not only of the music in worship, but also, the way our music moves and affects the soul. God intends wholeness for all He created, and our faithfulness in embodying wholeness in every aspect of our life is important not only in our music, but in our worship. Our planning for worship, our teaching and rehearsals, and even the way we manage difficult situations has the opportunity to enhance, or to discourage worship and spiritual growth. The best instances of musical and liturgical moments are when they fuse together. and we experience the expanse of God’s creation and how we are simply but a small element. We feel moved and closer to worship because we have encountered something short of a mountaintop experience. For musicians, we have abilities to blend the aesthetics of music with the spiritual, creating a sense of awe. Part of the director’s assignment is to engage not only the unsaved, but also those with strong Christian values in order to help provide affirmation and renewal of their faith. Choosing quality literature from the classics all the way to well-written contemporary music can reach both the churched and unchurched soul. Don’t be afraid to study scores and allow versatility in your choir’s repertoire.

“The human voice is the oldest musical instrument and through the ages it remains what it was, unchanged; the most primitive and the same time the most modern, because it is the most intimate form of human expressions.” ~ Ralph Vaughan Williams