Joseph Williams (composer)
Encyclopedia
Joseph Williams was a coal-miner and composer of sacred music, known today as West gallery music
. Very little is known about his life, other than he lived in Watery Lane, Tipton
, Staffordshire
. During his short lifetime he published a collection of his compositions, Sacred Music (Tipton: for the Author, c. 1830), containing 20 hymn tunes.
He met an unfortunate death in a mining-related accident on the Himley
Road, Dudley
, on 14 April 1834. He was walking along the road near to a mine-pit, and an explosion taking place threw a large rock into the air which killed him instantly. The pit's owners, Messrs. Horton, were not penalised for the accident.
A second collection of his music, The Celestial Chorister (London: Joseph Hart, c. 1835), was published posthumously, as the title page states, to raise money for his widow and 6 children. The collection is unusual in that 12 of the hymns take their titles from the 12 signs of the Zodiac
.
West gallery music
West Gallery Music, also known as "Georgian psalmody" refers to the sacred music sung and played in English parish churches, as well as nonconformist chapels, from 1700 to around 1850...
. Very little is known about his life, other than he lived in Watery Lane, Tipton
Tipton
Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47,000. Tipton is located about halfway between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is a part of the Black Country....
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. During his short lifetime he published a collection of his compositions, Sacred Music (Tipton: for the Author, c. 1830), containing 20 hymn tunes.
He met an unfortunate death in a mining-related accident on the Himley
Himley
Himley is a village located in Staffordshire, England. It is most notable for being the location of Himley Hall and the location of the death or capture of a group of conspirators following the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.- The area :...
Road, Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
, on 14 April 1834. He was walking along the road near to a mine-pit, and an explosion taking place threw a large rock into the air which killed him instantly. The pit's owners, Messrs. Horton, were not penalised for the accident.
A second collection of his music, The Celestial Chorister (London: Joseph Hart, c. 1835), was published posthumously, as the title page states, to raise money for his widow and 6 children. The collection is unusual in that 12 of the hymns take their titles from the 12 signs of the Zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
.
Video clips
- Diadem, hymn sung by Stream of Sound Choir
- Aries, hymn sung by Stream of Sound Choir