James Churchill Fisher ( 22 March 1826 – 22 March 1891), generally known as J. C. Fisher or J. Churchill Fisher was an Australian singing teacher and composer. He is best known as an advocate of the Tonic Sol-fa system of music teaching, and was responsible for the system's introduction to Australia.

History

Fisher was born in Portsea,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England, and had practised as a singer, conductor, and music teacher for several years. As a young man he had a fine tenor voice, and sang with

Charles Santley Sir Charles Santley (28 February 1834 – 22 September 1922) was an English opera and oratorio singer with a ''bravura''From the Italian verb ''bravare'', to show off. A florid, ostentatious style or a passage of music requiring technical skill ...

. He also sang with

Jack Hatton Jack Hatton (September 20, 1995 – September 24, 2019) was an American judoka representing the United States. He was known as "Judo Jack". Hatton was a member of the US National Team. Hatton competed in the 2018 and 2017 Senior World Champio ...

on numerous occasions. He emigrated to Australia, arriving in Sydney 24 December 1852 aboard ''Chaseley''. His first public engagement was as conductor of the Sydney Choral Society (also known as the St James Choral Society), which met at the schoolroom, St. James's church, as successor to James Johnson. From 1855 to 1858 he sang on the opera stage, generally at the

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and

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

theatres, alongside Catherine Hayes, Anna Bishop, Sara Flower, Frank and John Howson, and Messrs. Laglaise, Conlon, Sherwin,

Robert Farquharson Robert Donald William Farquharson (born 1969) is an Australian man convicted of murdering his three sons on 4 September 2005, by deliberately driving his car into a farm dam. Farquharson was convicted in an earlier trial and was sentenced to ...

, Lewis Lavenu,

George Loder George Loder (1816 – 15 July 1868) was an English conductor, and composer of orchestral music, operas and songs. During his career he lived in England, America and Australia; he conducted the first U.S. performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 ...

, and others. He left the stage and in 1859 took up a position with the Council of Education (later Department of Public Instruction) as teacher at the Marshall Mount National School, in the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

district. While there he introduced the tonic sol-fa system of teaching music as introduced by Rev. J. Curwen. In 1861 Fisher was transferred to the Fort Street Model School then in 1862 was appointed head master of the

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

Model School, where he introduced school concerts. These were so successful that his abilities as a teacher of singing were recognised by the Board of National Education, and the tonic sol-fa method was formally approved. In 1867 he was tasked with instructing teachers in the method. He was appointed musical instructor under the Council of Education, a position he held until 1880 when the Council was reformed as the Department of Public Education. :A culmination of his work came on 20 February 1868 when he was conductor of a choir of 500 children and 200 adults as the "Vocal Harmony Society" before the

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at the

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. :In 1870, he conducted a choir of 700 children and 1300 adults at the great centenary musical festival at the Exhibition Building, again before Prince Alfred. :He conducted the "J. Churchill Fisher Juvenile Choir" at the unveiling of the Captain Cook statue in

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in 1879, and again at the opening of the International Exhibition in the

Garden Palace The Garden Palace was a large, purpose-built exhibition building constructed to house the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879 in Sydney, Australia. It was designed by James Barnet and constructed by John Young, at a cost of £191,800 in only ...

on 25 September 1880, when his cantata ''The Emigrants'' was performed. :He was a prominent member of various Sydney musical societies. He finally gained a position with the Department's Examiners and Training Branch in May 1881, but had lost enthusiasm for the job and was asked to resign, which he did in March 1884. He died at Paramatta on his 65th birthday after years of pain and paralysis brought about by

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. His remains were buried at

Rookwood Cemetery Rookwood Cemetery (officially named Rookwood Necropolis) is a heritage-listed cemetery in Rookwood, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest List of necropolises, necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere and is the world's largest ...

Personal

Fisher married Emma Hall (c. 1830 – 21 February 1910) on 16 March 1854 at

Wollongong, New South Wales Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

. Of their twelve births only two girls and one boy survived childhood. The singer Emma Fisher was a daughter, but apart from that fact no more has been found. He was found insolvent in 1870. He was an excellent painter of landscapes.

Compositions

*''Under the Holly'', a Christmas cantata to the libretto of R. P. Whitworth, which was first produced in the

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on 30 January 1866. It was sung by the Sydney Harmonic Society before the

at the

Prince of Wales Opera House, Sydney The Prince of Wales was a theatre in Castlereagh Street, Sydney, New South Wales. It was destroyed by fire and rebuilt twice; the second time as the Theatre Royal. History The theatre, near the corner of King and Castlereagh streets, was built ...

on 22 February 1868. **''The Land of Gold'' **''I've Waited and Watched'' (both from the cantata and available as separate song sheets) *''The Emigrants'' to the libretto of "Australie", first produced by the Petersham Musical Society in 1880. The bass solo in this cantata was awarded first prize at the New Zealand Exhibition. *He also composed numerous voice exercises, dance pieces, and school songs, the latter being noted for their beautiful harmony. *He also composed and arranged the contents of the "School Song Books" used in New South Wales public schools.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, James Churchill 1826 births 1891 deaths Australian operatic tenors Australian choral conductors Australian music educators

History

Personal

Compositions

Further reading

Notes

References