Charles Edgar Pettman
1866 - 1943
Biography
Charles Edgar Pettman, usually known as Edgar Pettman, was an English organist, choral conductor, composer, arranger, and music editor born at Dunkirk, Kent, on April 20, 1866. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music and held a succession of London organ posts, including St Mary's, Kilburn, St Gabriel's, Willesden Green, St James's, Piccadilly, and St Sepulchre's, Holborn. He later concentrated increasingly on musical editing and publishing.
Pettman produced numerous hymn and carol collections and made a particular contribution to the English revival of European folk carols. His publications included Modern Christmas Carols and editions of earlier English church music. For Gabriel's Message his role was not to compose the Basque melody but to arrange or harmonize the traditional tune for English-language church use.
The familiar Baring-Gould-Pettman form was issued in The University Carol Book in 1922. Modern hymnals sometimes label Pettman as composer because his harmonized setting became standard, but authoritative hymnological sources identify the tune itself as traditional Basque and Pettman as arranger. His 1922 arrangement is now public domain, although later reharmonizations and choral settings may have separate copyrights.
Pettman produced numerous hymn and carol collections and made a particular contribution to the English revival of European folk carols. His publications included Modern Christmas Carols and editions of earlier English church music. For Gabriel's Message his role was not to compose the Basque melody but to arrange or harmonize the traditional tune for English-language church use.
The familiar Baring-Gould-Pettman form was issued in The University Carol Book in 1922. Modern hymnals sometimes label Pettman as composer because his harmonized setting became standard, but authoritative hymnological sources identify the tune itself as traditional Basque and Pettman as arranger. His 1922 arrangement is now public domain, although later reharmonizations and choral settings may have separate copyrights.