John Stevenson (composer)
Encyclopedia
Sir John Andrew Stevenson (1761 – 14 September 1833) was an Irish composer
of classical music
. He is best known for his publications of Irish Melodies with poet Thomas Moore
. He was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Dublin
, and was knight
ed in April, 1802.
in 1771, where he was taught by Richard Woodward junior and Samuel Murphy.
He was appointed stipendiary
at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
on 20 July 1775 by Dean Craddock and at Christ Church Cathedral in 1781 (despite his nationality, due to the intercession of the wife of the Dean). Appointed vicar choral at St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1783 and at Christ Church Cathedral in 1800. He received the degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa, by the University of Dublin
in 1791.
Sir John was knighted on 27 April 1803 by Philip Yorke, Earl of Hardwicke, lord lieutenant of Ireland
. He was appointed the first organist and musical director at the newly erected Chapel Royal of Dublin Castle in 1814.
Stevenson’s secular works include catches, glees, odes, operas, songs and symphonies and accompaniments to airs. He was knighted for his composition of the ode "You ladies of our Lovely Isle" and a glee with accompaniment "Give me the harp of Epic Song", a translation of the second "Ode of Anacreon". He was much renowned for his composition of glees. In 1775 he was awarded the Glee and Catch Club’s prize for the glee "One night when all the village slept". Other glee and catch compositions include "Alone on the sun-beaten rock", "Buds of Roses" which was awarded the gold medal by the Glee and Catch Club in 1813 and the tuneful catch "Come buy my Cherries" popularly known as "The Dublin Cries".
Stevenson composed some airs for O’Keeffe’s Dead Alive in 1780 which was performed with success in June 1781. Stevenson’s songs, among others include "Faithless Emma", "Dearest Ellen", better known from its opening line ‘When the rosebud of summer’, and "O ever skilled" written before Stevenson received his knighthood. Stevenson composed music for the comic opera Love in a Blaze after Lafont which was first performed in Crow Street Dublin on 29 May 1799 and The Patriot or Hermit of Saxellen (1810).
Stevenson is perhaps best known for his collaboration with Thomas Moore
(1779–1852) in several musical works where he provided adaptations: Irish Melodies (1807–34) nos. 1 to 4 (1808–12), nos. 5 to 7 (1813–18), nos. 8 and 9 (1821–24) and no. 10 and Supplement (1834); The Sacred Melodies, published in periodical numbers between 1808–34 and National Airs (first edition 1815). Differences arose between Moore and Stevenson as may be seen in the correspondence of Moore edited in 1852 by Lord John Russell and after the seventh number of Irish Melodies, the music was provided by Sir Henry Bishop (1786–1855). Despite this, Thomas Moore wrote a memorial poem for Stevenson entitled "Silence is in our Festal Halls". "Oft in the Stilly Night", a Scottish air from National Airs, was arranged by Stevenson in 1818.
By 1825, Stevenson had composed a large quantity of cathedral music amounting to twenty-six anthems and eight service settings not to mention chants, double chants, hymns and an oratorio "The Thankgiving", a pasticcio from several of his other anthems. In 1825, a selection of his cathedral works was printed in two volumes and published by James Power of the Strand with a dedication to George IV
. Three service settings in C, E flat and F, twelve anthems as well as twelve double chants and a set of Responses for Holy Days were selected for publication. Addison issued a reprint of these two volumes some years later in which each anthem and service was published separately. John Hullah reprinted the concluding chorus "The Lord is my strength" from the anthem I am well pleased in his Singers Library (c1860) and Joseph Robinson edited three of the twelve together with the unpublished "By the waters of Babylon". Apart from their popularity in Irish collegiate churches and cathedrals in the later nineteenth-century, several of Stevenson’s anthems and service settings were in use and in circulation at some English provincial cathedrals such as Bristol, Chester, Chichester, Lichfield, Lincoln, Manchester and Wells.
Sir John Andrew Stevenson died on 14 September 1833 at Headfort House in Kells, County Meath
. In 1843, a marble cenotaph
sculpted by Thomas Kirk (sculptor)
was erected in the Musicians Corner at Christ Church Cathedral ten years after Stevenson’s death and a stained glass window was placed in the South aisle of St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1864, both in honour of Stevenson’s memory. Sir John Andrew Stevenson, the composer of sacred and sublime melody, was the acclaimed facile princeps of his day.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
. He is best known for his publications of Irish Melodies with poet Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death...
. He was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Dublin
University of Dublin
The University of Dublin , corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin , located in Dublin, Ireland, was effectively founded when in 1592 Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter for Trinity College, Dublin, as "the mother of a university" – this date making it...
, and was knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed in April, 1802.
Biography
Stevenson was born in Crane Lane off Dame Street, Dublin, the son of a Scottish coach builder, who was also musically inclined. His parents died when he was young and he was taken in by a Mr. Gibson, of the firm of Gibson and Woffington in Grafton St., instrument-makers. Despite the fact that he was Irish-born (only English were accepted by Christ Church at that time), Gibson succeeded in getting him received as an indentured choirboy at Christ Church Cathedral, DublinChrist Church Cathedral, Dublin
Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the Ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the Church of Ireland...
in 1771, where he was taught by Richard Woodward junior and Samuel Murphy.
He was appointed stipendiary
Stipend
A stipend is a form of salary, such as for an internship or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from a wage or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work performed, instead it represents a payment that enables somebody to be exempt partly or wholly from waged or salaried...
at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin
Saint Patrick's Cathedral , or more formally, the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Patrick is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland which was founded in 1191. The Church has designated it as The National Cathedral of Ireland...
on 20 July 1775 by Dean Craddock and at Christ Church Cathedral in 1781 (despite his nationality, due to the intercession of the wife of the Dean). Appointed vicar choral at St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1783 and at Christ Church Cathedral in 1800. He received the degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa, by the University of Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
in 1791.
Sir John was knighted on 27 April 1803 by Philip Yorke, Earl of Hardwicke, lord lieutenant of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. He was appointed the first organist and musical director at the newly erected Chapel Royal of Dublin Castle in 1814.
Stevenson’s secular works include catches, glees, odes, operas, songs and symphonies and accompaniments to airs. He was knighted for his composition of the ode "You ladies of our Lovely Isle" and a glee with accompaniment "Give me the harp of Epic Song", a translation of the second "Ode of Anacreon". He was much renowned for his composition of glees. In 1775 he was awarded the Glee and Catch Club’s prize for the glee "One night when all the village slept". Other glee and catch compositions include "Alone on the sun-beaten rock", "Buds of Roses" which was awarded the gold medal by the Glee and Catch Club in 1813 and the tuneful catch "Come buy my Cherries" popularly known as "The Dublin Cries".
Stevenson composed some airs for O’Keeffe’s Dead Alive in 1780 which was performed with success in June 1781. Stevenson’s songs, among others include "Faithless Emma", "Dearest Ellen", better known from its opening line ‘When the rosebud of summer’, and "O ever skilled" written before Stevenson received his knighthood. Stevenson composed music for the comic opera Love in a Blaze after Lafont which was first performed in Crow Street Dublin on 29 May 1799 and The Patriot or Hermit of Saxellen (1810).
Stevenson is perhaps best known for his collaboration with Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death...
(1779–1852) in several musical works where he provided adaptations: Irish Melodies (1807–34) nos. 1 to 4 (1808–12), nos. 5 to 7 (1813–18), nos. 8 and 9 (1821–24) and no. 10 and Supplement (1834); The Sacred Melodies, published in periodical numbers between 1808–34 and National Airs (first edition 1815). Differences arose between Moore and Stevenson as may be seen in the correspondence of Moore edited in 1852 by Lord John Russell and after the seventh number of Irish Melodies, the music was provided by Sir Henry Bishop (1786–1855). Despite this, Thomas Moore wrote a memorial poem for Stevenson entitled "Silence is in our Festal Halls". "Oft in the Stilly Night", a Scottish air from National Airs, was arranged by Stevenson in 1818.
By 1825, Stevenson had composed a large quantity of cathedral music amounting to twenty-six anthems and eight service settings not to mention chants, double chants, hymns and an oratorio "The Thankgiving", a pasticcio from several of his other anthems. In 1825, a selection of his cathedral works was printed in two volumes and published by James Power of the Strand with a dedication to George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
. Three service settings in C, E flat and F, twelve anthems as well as twelve double chants and a set of Responses for Holy Days were selected for publication. Addison issued a reprint of these two volumes some years later in which each anthem and service was published separately. John Hullah reprinted the concluding chorus "The Lord is my strength" from the anthem I am well pleased in his Singers Library (c1860) and Joseph Robinson edited three of the twelve together with the unpublished "By the waters of Babylon". Apart from their popularity in Irish collegiate churches and cathedrals in the later nineteenth-century, several of Stevenson’s anthems and service settings were in use and in circulation at some English provincial cathedrals such as Bristol, Chester, Chichester, Lichfield, Lincoln, Manchester and Wells.
Sir John Andrew Stevenson died on 14 September 1833 at Headfort House in Kells, County Meath
Kells, County Meath
Kells is a town in County Meath, Ireland. The town lies off the M3 motorway, from Navan and from Dublin. In recent years Kells has grown greatly with many Dublin commuters moving to the town....
. In 1843, a marble cenotaph
Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
sculpted by Thomas Kirk (sculptor)
Thomas Kirk (sculptor)
Thomas Kirk was a noted Irish sculptor.He was born in Cork. He studied at the Dublin Society's School where he won prizes in 1797 and 1800. He later worked for Henry Darley, a skillful builder and stone-cutter from Meath, based in Abbey Street, Dublin. Kirk was acclaimed for his fine relief work...
was erected in the Musicians Corner at Christ Church Cathedral ten years after Stevenson’s death and a stained glass window was placed in the South aisle of St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1864, both in honour of Stevenson’s memory. Sir John Andrew Stevenson, the composer of sacred and sublime melody, was the acclaimed facile princeps of his day.