Frederic Archer

Frederic Archer
(b Oxford, 16 June 1838; d Pittsburgh, 22 Oct 1901). Anglo-American organist, conductor and composer.

He became organist of Merton College, Oxford, and in 1873 was appointed to Alexandra Palace in London, where he afterwards became conductor, a post he held until 1880. In 1881 he visited the USA, giving organ recitals in several cities, and later the same year returned to become organist first at Henry Ward Beecher’s church in Brooklyn and then at the Church of the Incarnation in New York. In 1883 he founded the illustrated weekly The Keynote, which he edited for a year. He moved to Boston in 1887 to become conductor of the Boston Oratorio Society, and subsequently to Chicago where he was organist of St James’s Church.

When Andrew Carnegie established the Carnegie Institute and Library in Pittsburgh, he instituted weekly free organ recitals there; Archer was engaged as organist and inaugurated the series on 7 November 1895. The institute’s music hall also served the new Pittsburgh Orchestra, which Archer conducted from its first concert on 27 February 1896 until 28 January 1898, when he was succeeded by Victor Herbert. He continued as organist until his death, however, and also worked as organist of the Church of the Ascension. Archer composed many works for the organ, piano pieces, songs and a cantata, King Witlaf’s Drinking-Horn. He wrote several instructional manuals and also compiled anthologies of organ pieces.