William Thomas

William (Edwin Somerset) Thomas was born in Oxford, England. He graduated from Oxford University with a doctorate in 1893. He held several posts in England, as church organist, choral conductor and orchestral conductor before being appointed professor at the Music at the University College of Auckland in 1900. He became conductor of the Auckland Choral Society and the Auckland Liedertafel (a male voice choir). He was a prolific composer with several of his compositions being published, including an oratorio The Nativity, and Mass in C for Male Voices and Orchestra. He also composed a symphony, which is unpublished, and several madrigals, which shows his penchant for music of the 16th and 17th Centuries.

William Thomas retired in 1933 and continued to live in Auckland. One of his students, Owen Jensen, who became the respected music critic for Wellington’s Evening Post newspaper, recalled, “From those of his compositions I knew — a Mass and several part-songs — he must have been a dull composer even among the dull Victorians, or the duller ones, anyhow. But it was impossible not to like him.”

A small collection of his music, including The Dying Lover, is held in the Auckland University Library.

Image: W E Thomas. Schmidt, Herman John, 1872-1959 :Portrait and landscape negatives, Auckland district. Ref: 1/1-001742-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22617751