This composer is best remembered by scholars of American music for his passionate support of the musicians of his native country, primarily because of his outspoken participation, along with William Henry Fry, in a journalistic battle in early 1854 with music critics. George Bristow was the son of William Richard Bristow, who immigrated to the United States from Kent, England, and his wife Mary Ann, also a native of England. They were married in Brooklyn in February 1825. Their first child was born there on December 19, 1825. Read more about the composer’s life on i-brooklyn.
Starting a music career
William was well known in both Brooklyn and Manhattan as an organist, clarinetist, conductor, church musician who played at St. Paul’s Church in Brooklyn, theater musician, teacher and more. George Bristow spent his entire professional life as a music educator, both privately and at schools and conservatories in New York City. He started teaching piano and violin in the mid-1840s, when he was in his early twenties. Around the same time, he began to build a reputation as a performer and composer. He could have spent his career achieving prestige and public recognition, as many musicians who are better known in history have done. But he firmly believed in music.
In 1854, Bristow began a lifelong career as a teacher in the NYC public schools. His first position was as a music teacher at the Female Normal Institute, a teacher training school. However, this appointment was temporary. Later, Bristow turned his attention to educating young children rather than teachers.
Teaching activity
He began in 1855 at the gymnasium No. 44 on North Moore Street in the city’s fifth district. The 1850s also ended with a personal tragedy for George Bristow. The composer decided to divorce his wife Harriet. It was because of her numerous infidelities, which continued even after he begged her to give up intimate relationships with other men. According to court documents, she considered this impossible, so he agreed to her request for a physical separation. He even supported her financially for some time.
The 1870s were the middle of Bristow’s career. As a mature and established composer (he was fifty years old at the middle of the decade), his standing in the New York music world was secure and widely recognized. His freelance or short-term work, which had declined considerably in the mid-1860s, no longer constituted an important part of his professional life. Despite this, his status as a highly acclaimed performer remained constant and undisputed throughout the decade, as evidenced by his regular appearance at concerts and occasional special events.
An outstanding figure in musical life
For the past two decades, George Bristow has focused on teaching and composition. In the middle of the century, he was one of the most influential and active composers and performers in the rather small and insular musical community of NYC. But during the 1880s and 1890s, his position changed significantly, primarily because the city itself was transformed into an urban area that was neither small nor insular. George Frederick Bristow lived a long and productive life that spanned almost three quarters of the nineteenth century. He was a successful violinist, pianist, organist, conductor, composer and teacher. He also played a significant role in the development of American musical culture during the nineteenth century. As John Freund noted in Bristow’s obituary, he was a prominent figure in the musical life of this country for more than half a century.