Paul Laurence Dunbar, Lullaby
(1846-1916) William Wallace Gilchrist was a composer and vocalist born in Jersey City, NJ before moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the age of 9. In his early singing career, Gilchrist sang as a soprano in choruses before his voice developed into a smooth, baritone. He sang the principal parts in the oratorios of the Handel and Haydn Society, where his first real musical life began. In 1865, he studied organ, voice, and theory with Prof. H. A. Clarke, gradually concentrating on theory. In 1870, he spent the year in Cincinnati as organist and teacher, then going to Philadelphia to take the post of choirmaster at St. Clement’s Protestant Episcopal Church. He became head of voice instruction at the Philadelphia Academy in 1882. He directed a number of Philadelphia musical organizations; one of which was the Mendelssohn Club, which he founded in 1874 and which remains active today. In 1884, he took the prize of $1,000 offered by the Cincinnati Festival Association, the judges of which were Saint-Saens, Reinicke, and Theodore Thomas.
Gilchrist, William Wallace, "Southern Lullaby" (1897). Dunbar Music Archive. 110.