B.Mus., University of Detroit
M.Mus., University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
D.S.M., School of Sacred Music, Union Theological Seminary, New York
Principal teachers:
William I. Green, Alle Zuideman, Robert Cato, Marilyn Mason, Vernon DeTar, Alec Wyton (organ)
Seth Bingham, Joseph Goodman (composition)
Marcel Dupré (organ master class)

Professor of Music, Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY) (1970-1994)

Eugene W. Hancock was a distinguished organist, composer, professor of music, and authority on the Organ Music of Black Composers.

He received his bachelor of music degree from the University of Detroit, his master's degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and a doctorate in sacred music from Union Theological Seminary in New York. He studied organ with William I. Green, Alle Zuideman, Robert Cato, Marilyn Mason,Vernon DeTar and Alec Wyton, and composition with Seth Bingham and Joseph Goodman.

In New York he served as assistant organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (1963-66), organist-choirmaster of St. Philip's Episcopal Church (1974-82), and organist-choirmaster and director of music at West End Presbyterian Church (1982-90). In Detroit he was organist-choirmaster at New Calvary Baptist Church (1967-70), St. Philip's Lutheran Church and St. Titus Lutheran Church.

Dr. Hancock was a professor of music at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY) from 1970 until his death in 1994.

He was the presenter and performer for the American Guild of Organists Educational Cassette Organ Music of Black Composers (1992), featuring works by Ayo Bankole, Henry Sexton, Ralph Simpson, Don Lee White, Ulysses Kay, Joseph Hayes, Charles Coleman, Mark Fax, Adolphus Hailstork, George Walker, Samuel C. Taylor and Fela Sowande. The American Organist published his article "Organ Music by Black Composers" in 1981.

His own compositions include Absalom and Nunc Dimittis for baritone and piano (1977); As Smoke Is Blown Away for SATB, organ, brass quartet and timpani; numerous anthems such as Behold The Highly Esteemed Priest, written for the Archbishop of Canterbury's visit to St. Philip's Church in 1981; The Death of Jesus: A Cantata (1982); the hymn tunes Hancock (1989), Myrtle and Carmon (1992); The Wrath of God (1991), premiered by organist David Hurd; and Fantasy for Organ (1985), performed by Herman D. Taylor at the 1985 Black American Music Symposium in Ann Arbor and the 1992 American Guild of Organists Convention in Atlanta, and broadcast on Pipedreams (Minnesota Public Radio).

Many of his works were published, and several have been included in anthologies such as Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers, compiled by Willis C. Patterson (Edward B. Marks), African-American Organ Music Anthology, edited by Mickey Thomas Terry (Morningstar Music), 100 Hymns of Hope (Hope Publishing) and The Presbyterian Hymnal (Westminster/John Knox Press).

Dr. Hancock was an active member of the American Guild of Organists, serving as sub-dean of the New York City AGO Chapter (1977-78), member of the National Council (1977-82) and State Chairman, Metropolitan New York (1985-87). He was also a member of the National Association of Negro Musicians, the Association of Anglican Musicians, The Bohemians, the Saint Wilfrid Club, the Society of College Composers, the Hymn Society of America and the Presbyterian Association of Musicians.

—Nurit Tilles

WORKS:

Absalom
for: baritone and piano
date: copyright 1977
text: Samuel II
published: Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers, compiled by Willis C. Patterson, Edward B. Marks (1977), distributed by Hal Leonard HL 00008242.

As Smoke Is Blown Away
for: SATB (divisi), organ, brass quartet, timpani
date: 1991
text: Zephania Kameeta (copyright World Council of Churches)
note: unpublished score held by Selah Publishing Company

A Babe Is Born (Christmas carol)
for: SATB
date: c1975
text: Fifteenth century English carol modernized
published: H. W. Gray Publications (ca. 1975) (out of print)
source: Center for Black Music Research

Behold The Highly Esteemed Priest (anthem)
for: SATB and organ
date: 1981
text: Ecce Sacerdo Magnus, translated by Frances D. Young
note: "Written for the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury to Saint Philip Church, New York City, May 1981."
published: Augsburg (1985) (out of print)
source: Center for Black Music Research

Blow The Trumpet in Zion (anthem)
for: SATB, organ, trumpet
date: copyright 1991
text: adapted by the composer from Joel 2:1, 13
published: Augsburg (ca. 1991) (out of print)
source: Center for Black Music Research

Break Forth Into Joy (anthem)
for: SATB and organ
date: ?
text: Isaiah 52:9
published: Augsburg (1990) (out of print)
source: Center for Black Music Research

But Lord I Cannot Speak
for: SATB a cappella
date: c1988
text: Jeremiah 1:4-9
published: Mar-Vel (ca. 1988)
source: Center for Black Music Research

Carmon
for: hymn tune
date: copyright 1992
text: Richard Wilbur ("A Stable Lamp Is Lighted") (1961)
published: Hope Publishing Company, 100 Hymns of Hope (1992)
note: "This is the first published edition of this hymn tune with this relatively new, popular Christmas text. The composer stresses the importance of the setting having two pulses per measure. A treble voice setting with organ, cello, flute, and optional percussion will soon be available from Augsburg Fortress Publishers, Minneapolis, Minnesota." (see A Stable Lamp is Lighted, below)

Come Here, Lord
for: SATB
date: c1973
text: traditional spiritual
published: J. Fischer & Bro. (ca. 1973) (out of print)
source: Center for Black Music Research

The Death of Jesus: A Cantata
for: mixed choir (SATB), soprano, contralto, tenor and baritone soloists, and organ
date: 1982
text: Source of text not given. Appears to be a scriptural paraphrase from relevant portions of the Gospels.
source: New York Public Library; Center for Black Music Research

Every Time I Feel The Spirit
for: ?
date: ?
text: ?

Fantasy
for: organ
date: 1985
note: "Written for and dedicated to Dr. Herman D. Taylor"
premiere: Herman D. Taylor, organ, Black American Music Symposium, Ann Arbor, MI, 1985.
performed/broadcast: Herman D. Taylor, organ, National Convention of the American Guild of Organists, Atlanta, GA, 6/30/92; Minnesota Public Radio, Pipedreams, August 2002
published: African-American Organ Music Anthology, Vol. 1, edited by Mickey Thomas Terry, Morningstar Music Publishers 10-545 (2000).

Go Tell It On The Mountain (arrangement)
for: organ
date:
published: African-American Organ Music Anthology, Vol. 3, edited by Mickey Thomas Terry, Morningstar Music Publishers 10-547 (2001).

Gloria in Excelsis Deo
for: women's chorus (SSA), 3 percussion, piano, optional organ
date: 1989
text: Luke 2:15 Vulgate (Latin) form
source: Center for Black Music Research

Hancock
for: hymn tune
date: copyright 1989
text: Jeffery Rowthorn ("Creating God, Your Fingers Trace") (1979)
published: Hope Publishing Company, Hymn Sampler 1989 (out of print); The Presbyterian Hymnal (Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky 1990)
note: his first published hymn tune

I Will Send My Messenger To You
for: SATB a cappella
date: c1988
text: Malachi 3:1
published: Mar-Vel (ca. 1988)
source: Center for Black Music Research

Introit and Gradual for Easter Day
for: ?
date: ?

Jubilate (Psalm 100): Be Joyful in the Lord, All Ye Lands
for: SATB and organ
date: c1982
text: Psalm 100
published: Anglo-American Music Publishers (ca. 1982)
source: Center for Black Music Research

Katy Ferguson
for: soloists (mezzo or soprano, alto, baritone) children's choir, SATB, keyboard
date: 1991 (?)
text: Evelyn Miller and Thomas Wilson
source: Center for Black Music Research

Myrtle (When Jesus Died To Save Us All)
for: hymn tune
date: copyright 1992
text: St. 1 F. Bland Tucker; St. 2 John Donne or Queen Elizabeth I
published: Hope Publishing Company, 100 Hymns of Hope (1992)
note: "In this setting, Myrtle, the composer has tried to provide a tune that, like the text, is descriptive and unadorned."

Nunc Dimittis
for: baritone and piano
date: copyright 1977
text: "Liturgical text" Luke 2:29-32
note: originally entitled Song of Simeon
published: Edward B. Marks, Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers, compiled by Willis C. Patterson (1977), distributed by Hal Leonard HL 00008242.

An Organ Book of Spirituals (arrangements)
Fix Me, Jesus
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
I'm Troubled
Joshua Fought The Battle Of Jericho
My Lord, What A Morning!
Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder
Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?
for: organ
published: Lorenz Publishing Company (1966) (out of print)
note: listed by Hancock in 1984 as his "first published manuscript."
source: Manhattan School of Music; Queens College; Indiana University; Detroit Public Library; Carnegie Library of Pittburgh; Center for Popular Music, MTSU (TN)

O Taste, And See
for: SATB
date: c1980
text: Psalm 34:8
published: H. W. Gray Publications (1980) (out of print)
source: Center for Black Music Research

Our Father in Heaven (anthem)
for: soprano solo, SATB, keyboard
date: copyright 1983
text: Lord's Prayer (non-standard version, source not given)
published: Augsburg (out of print)
source: Center for Black Music Research

A Palm Sunday Anthem
for: SATB and youth choir
date: copyright 1971
text: Matthew 21:8-9 alt., Mark 11:8-10 alt.
published: H.W. Gray Publications (1971) (out of print)
source: Howard University; Center for Black Music Research

Poor Little Jesus (arrangement)
for: TTBB a cappella, countertenor solo
date: c1987
text: Afro-American spiritual
melody: from Songs and Games of American Children, 1884-1911
note: "To Dr. Wendell P. Whalum and the Morehouse College Glee Club"
published: Augsburg (1987) (out of print)
source: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Center for Black Music Research

Prayer of Saint Francis: Lord Make Us Instruments...
for: ?
date: ?

Psalm 23: The Lord is my Shepherd
for: soloist (high voice?), SATB, keyboard (organ)
date: c1983
text: Psalm 23
published: Mar-Vel (1983)
source: Center for Black Music Research

Song of Simeon
for: baritone and piano
date: c1977
text: "Liturgical text" Luke 2:29-32
published (as Nunc Dimittis): Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers, compiled by Willis C. Patterson, Edward B. Marks (1977), distributed by Hal Leonard HL 00008242.

A Stable Lamp is Lighted
for: unison voices and guitar (or piano), optional violin, cello, guitar and flute
date: c1992
text: Richard Wilbur, "A Christmas Hymn" from Advice to a Prophet and Other Poems (1961)
note: composer's setting of Carmon, above. "For Mr. William Riley and the Buckley School Glee Club, NYC"
published: Augsburg (ca. 1992) (out of print)
source: Center for Black Music Research

Suite in Three Movements for Organ, String Quartet, Oboe, Xylophone and Bass Drum
Variation
Aria
Toccata
date: 1966
note: Listed as "unpublished score" in Diapason article (see Bibliography). Whereabouts of manuscript unknown.

There's A Star In The East
for: ?
date: ?
text: ?
published: The Candlelight Carol Book, McAfee Music (1985) (out of print)

Thirteen Spirituals (arrangements)
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
There's A Star In The East
Were You There?
Calvary
Wade In The Water
O Redeemed
Let Us Break Bread Together
I'm Troubled In Mind
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
My Soul's Been Anchored In The Lord
Walk Together Children
Lord, I Want To Be A Christian
This Little Light Of Mine
for: equal voices in unison and two parts, with organ and unaccompanied
published: H.W. Gray Publications (1973) (out of print)
source: Cornell University, Howard University, Boston University, East Carolina University; Center for Black Music Research
note: Listed in Hancock 1984 resume asThirteen Spirituals for Young Voices, pub. H.W. Gray.

Unto Us A Child Is Born (anthem)
for: SATB and organ
date: copyright 1987
text: Isaiah 9:6
published: Augsburg (ca. 1987) (out of print)
source: Center for Black Music Research

The Wrath of God
for: organ
date: 1991
duration: 4:15
premiere: David Hurd, organ
published: Selah Publishing Company 160-863 (1993)
source: Detroit Public Library

ALTERNATE SETTINGS

"When Stephen, Full of Power" (243) in The Hymnal (1982).
"How Firm A Foundation" (636) in The Hymnal (1982).

UNCOMPLETED WORKS:
Unknown

WRITINGS:
"Organ Music by Black Composers," The American Organist (February 1981).

DISCOGRAPHY:

AS COMPOSER:

"Absalom," James Patterson, bass-baritone, Patrick O'Donnell, piano, Sence You Went Away: Contemporary African American Art Songs & Spirituals, Albany Records (CD, 2000).
"Nunc Dimittis," Derry Billingsley, bass-baritone, An Evening of African-American Art Song, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Vocal Literature Seminar (cassette, 1995).
Four spirituals from An Organ Album of Spirituals ("We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder," "Go, Tell It On The Mountain," "My Lord, What A Morning!" and "Joshua Fought The Battle Of Jericho"), Robert Scoggin, organ, Pipedreams Live! Treasures from the Pipedreams Archives, Minnesota Public Radio PDCD 1002 (1995).

AS PERFORMER:

Organ Music of Black Composers, Eugene Wilson Hancock, organ. American Guild of Organists educational cassette 0-51 (1992).
Ayo Bankole: Toccata III—H. Sexton and R. Henry: Gospel Fancy—Ralph Simpson: Homage to H.D.T. & J.S.B—Don Lee White: Near the Cross—Ulysses Kay: Organ Sonata #1: Prelude—Joseph Hayes: Praeludium—Charles Coleman: Sonata 1 for Organ: Passacaglia—Mark Fax: Three Organ Pieces: Piece I—Adolphus Hailstork: Suite for Organ: Prelude—George Walker: Three Pieces for Organ: Elevation—Samuel C. Taylor: Three Impromptus: Impromptu in F—Fela Sowande: Sacred Idiom of the Negro.
En Blanc et Noir: Pipedreams, Program #9305 (1993) includes Eugene Hancock, organ, at Klais/St. Peter's Church, New York, 1977. Minnesota Public Radio Archive (r. 5/4/91).
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Impromptu No. 1—Noel DaCosta: Maryton Hymn Variations—Henry Sexton (arr. Raymond Henry): Gospel Hymn, We Are Our Heavenly Father's Children—Charles Coleman: Impromptu for Pedals.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• International Who's Who in Music.
• Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians.
• Choral Music by Afro-American Composers.
• Episcopal Lay-Leadership Directory (1988).
• Obituary, The American Organist (date?).
• "A Second Glance: An Overview of African-American Organ Literature" by Mickey Thomas Terry, The Diapason (May 1998). Excerpt from Fantasy for Organ; photograph of Eugene W. Hancock.
• "Conversation with Clarence E. Whiteman: Organ-Music Collector" by Eileen Southern, The Black Perspective in Music Vol. VI/2 (Fall 1978). Interview with Whiteman; index of his collection of organ pieces, many unpublished, by 14 black composers including Eugene Hancock.
• Our Afro-American Heritage in Music, Carl Fischer Music Stores, Chicago (1986).

PERFORMING RIGHTS AFFILIATION:
ASCAP

RESOURCES:
Anglo-American Music Publishers
Worldwide Music International
P.O. Box 161323
Altamonte Springs, FL 32716-1323
Tel: (407) 464-9454
Fax: (407) 464-9454
www.worldwidemusiconline.com

Center for Black Music Research
Dr. Suzanne Flandreau, Librarian and Archivist
Columbia College Chicago
600 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605-1996
www.cbmr.org

Hope Publishing Company
380 South Main Place
Carol Stream, IL 60188
Tel: (630) 665-3200 or (800) 323-1049
Fax: (630) 665-2552
hope@hopepublishing.com
www.hopepublishing.com

Edward B. Marks Music Company
Hal Leonard Corporation
7777 W. Bluemound Road
Milwaukee, WI 53213
Tel: (414) 774-3630
Fax: (414) 774-3259
halinfo@halleonard.com
www.halleonard.com

MorningStar Music Publishers
1727 Larkin Williams Road
Fenton, MO 63026
Tel: (636) 305-0100 or (800) 647-2117
Fax: (636) 305-0121
www.morningstarmusic.com

Selah Publishing Company, Inc.
P.O Box 3037
Kingston, NY 12402
Tel: (800) 852-6172 or (845) 338-2816
Fax: (845) 338-2991
www.selahpub.com

MUSICAL EXECUTOR:
Unknown

OTHER CONTACTS:
Unknown