Joseph Augustine Wade (1796
['c.1801' according to Lisa Parker: "Wade, Joseph Augustine", in: ''The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland'', ed. H. White & B. Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), vol. 2, p. 1036] – 15 July 1845) was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
and
conductor. Wade was popular in his lifetime, and he was quoted in the 1919 ''
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
''Bartlett's Familiar Quotations'', often simply called ''Bartlett's'', is an American reference work that is the longest-lived and most widely distributed collection of quotations. The book was first issued in 1855 and is currently in its ninet ...
''.
Life and career
Wade was born in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
and worked as a
surgeon
In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...
before moving to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1821. For a short period he was conductor at the King's Theatre. He had some success with his oratorio ''The Prophecy'' (1824) and the comic opera ''The Two Houses of Grenada'' (1826).
Wade was known for his arrangement of ''Peter Gray'' as well as for popular songs that included ''I've Wandered in Dreams'', ''Love was Once a Little Boy'', ''A Woodland Life'', and his most famous, ''Meet me by Moonlight''.
Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
referred to Wade, having his eponymous hero in ''Samuel Sensitive'' sing a phrase of Wade's ''Meet me by Moonlight''.
[Walt Whitman, Emory Holloway (ed.), ''The Uncollected Poetry and Prose of Walt Whitman: Much of which Has Been But Recently Discovered'' (New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1921).]
His son Joseph Augustine Wade jr. was also a composer.
Selected works
Stage
* ''Two Houses of Granada'', comic opera (1826)
* ''The Convent Belles'', comic opera (1833)
* ''The Yeoman's Daughter'', musical play (1834)
* ''The Pupil of Da Vinci'', burletta (1839)
Vocal
* ''Come Buy me Cherries'' (c.1820)
* ''The Hermit of Killarney'', Irish ballad (c.1820)
* ''The Prophecy'', oratorio (1824)
* ''Hours There Were'', ballad (1825)
* ''Where Stays my Lover's Barque'', ballad for 3 voices (c.1825)
* ''Farewell Sweet Whispering Echo'', glee (c.1826)
* ''Say Will Summer Roses Bloom'', duet (c.1828)
* ''Meet me by Moonlight'', ballad (c.1830)
* ''Shula Agra'', Irish ballad (c.1830)
* ''The Faithless One'' (c.1830)
* ''Polish Melodies'' (1831)
* ''I have Fruit, I have Flow'rs'', cavatina (c.1840)
Piano
* ''A Grand Duet for Two Performers on the Piano Forte'' (1827)
Writings
* ''The Hand-Book to the Piano Forte'' (London, 1844)
References
External links
*
* Works by J.A. Wade a
IMSLP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wade, J. Augustus
1796 births
1845 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century Irish male musicians
Irish classical composers
Irish conductors (music)
Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom
Irish opera composers
Male opera composers
Musicians from Dublin (city)