Charles Wood (b. Armagh, Ireland, 1866; d. Cambridge, 1926)

Composer and organist Charles Wood was a pupil of Charles Stanford at the Royal College of Music and Cambridge University, where he earned his doctorate in 1894. After serving as Stanford’s assistant at Cambridge for many years, he became professor of music when Stanford died in 1924. Wood held this post for only two years until his own death in 1926.

Wood’s influence can be gauged not only by the continuing presence in the modern repertoire of his choral, organ, and string music but in the careers of his many notable students, who include Herbert Howells, Sir Arthur Bliss, Edward Dent, Sir Thomas Beecham, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Wood is best remembered today for his fine works for the English church, including organ preludes, anthems, and morning and evening services.