author
Edward W. (Edward Woodall) Naylor
1867–1934
An English organist, composer, and music scholar, he is remembered for church music, stage works, and thoughtful writing about music in Shakespeare. His career linked Cambridge, London, and the long English choral tradition he grew up in.
1 Audiobook
Shakespeare and music : with illustrations from the music of the 16th and 17th centuries
by Edward W. (Edward Woodall) Naylor
About the author
Born in Scarborough on February 9, 1867, he was the son of John Naylor, organist of York Minster. He studied at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he held a choral scholarship and earned his BA, and then continued his training at the Royal College of Music.
After early work as an organist in London, he returned to Cambridge and became closely associated with Emmanuel College, serving for many years as organist and later as a teacher and scholar. Alongside his practical musical work, he also wrote about music, including studies of Shakespeare and music that helped build his reputation beyond performance.
He died in Cambridge on May 7, 1934. Although not a household name today, he stands out as a musician who combined composition, church music, academic life, and criticism in a distinctly English late Victorian and early 20th-century career.