Please answer the following question: Facts:   - death place: orkney islands    - death date: 5 july 1944      - birth date: 23 july 1876    - name: william gillies whittaker    - image: william g. whittaker.jpg    - birth place: newcastle upon tyne   Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of william g. whittaker .
Answer:
william gillies whittaker -lrb- newcastle upon tyne , july 23 , 1876 -- orkney islands , july 5 , 1944 -rrb- was an english-scottish composer , pedagogue , conductor , musicologist , bach scholar , publisher and writer .he spent his life promoting music .the university of durham , where he once studied and taught , called him one of `` britain 's most influential musicians during the first half of the twentieth century '' .an autodidact , he was a prodigious creator of gebrauchsmusik .