James Lyon (July 1, 1735 – October 12, 1794) was an American composer of the colonial and Federal eras in New England.
Life
James Lyon was born in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.[Nassau Hall
Nassau Hall, colloquially known as Old Nassau, is the oldest building at Princeton University in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. In 1783 it served as the United States Capitol building for four months. At the time it was built ...]
, and afterwards obtained a master's degree from
College of Philadelphia
The Academy and College of Philadelphia (1749-1791) was a boys' school and men's college in Philadelphia, Colony of Pennsylvania.
Founded in 1749 by a group of local notables that included Benjamin Franklin, the Academy of Philadelphia began as ...
. Lyon became a Presbyterian minister, and left from
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
for
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, but he was unable to support his family, and subsequently accepted a job at the new settlement of
Machias, Maine
Machias is a town in and the county seat of Washington County in Down East Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 2,060. It is home to the University of Maine at Machias and Machias Valley Airport, a small public ...
. After his first year there, the parish invited him to remain at a raised salary and he remained there with a few interruptions, until his death on October 12, 1794.
Music
The first evidence of Lyon composing was during his college days at the commencement of 1759 at Nassau Hall, when President Samuel Davies delivered an oration, and where the ceremony concluded with an ODE, set to music by Lyon. In 1761, when a candidate for a master's degree at the College of Philadelphia, one of his works was performed on the same program as an ''Ode'' by
Francis Hopkinson
Francis Hopkinson (October 2,Hopkinson was born on September 21, 1737, according to the then-used Julian calendar (old style). In 1752, however, Great Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar (new style) which moved Hopkinson's ...
. While living in Philadelphia, Lyon produced his ''Urania, or A Choice Collection of Psalm-Tunes, Anthems and Hymns'' in 1761. This contained many English tunes as well as six original works by Lyon, including; ''Two Celebrated Verses by Sternhold and Hopkins'' an ''Anthem taken from the 150th Psalm'' and the ''104th Psalm by Dr. Watts''. Though many early historians stated that ''Urania'' was a failure, it was the first music collection compiled by an American composer and rather progressive and influential.
References
External links
* https://archive.org/details/uraniaorchoiceco00lyon - An Online Copy of ''Urania, or A Choice Collection of Psalm-Tunes, Anthems and Hymns''
*
Further reading
* Alexander, Samuel Davies. ''Princeton College During the 18th Century''. New York: A.D.F. Randolph and Company, 1872
* Edwards, George Thornton. ''Music and Musicians of Maine.'' Portland, Maine: The Southworth Press, 1928
* Sonneck, O.G. ''Francis Hopkinson and James Lyon.'' Washington, D.C.: H.L. McQueen, 1905.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, James
1735 births
1794 deaths
18th-century American composers
18th-century American musicians
18th-century male musicians
American composers
American male composers
American Presbyterian ministers
Musicians from Newark, New Jersey
People from Machias, Maine
18th-century American clergy