Maurice Cole (pianist) Maurice Cole (pianist) Maurice Cole (1902–1990), was an English pianist, teacher and adjudicator who studied privately and at the Guildhall School of Music with Arthur De Greef. Maurice Cole was born in London, England. He was the first pianist to broadcast a recital on the BBC and went on to perform, amongst many other compositions, both books of Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier" on the BBC Third Programme. He was professor at the Guildhall School of Music from 1953, was appointed Professor of Pianoforte at the School on two occasions and was a member of the Incorporated Society of Musicians. He was
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day as a lieutenant but, in November, he was severely wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church (in Virginia), during the Mine Run Campaign. Charles eventually recovered, but his time as a soldier was finished. Longfellow first wrote the poem on Christmas Day in 1863. "Christmas Bells" was first published in February 1865, in "Our Young Folks", a juvenile magazine published by Ticknor and Fields. References to the Civil War are prevalent in some of the verses that are not commonly sung. The following are the original words of Longfellow's poem: <poem> I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their