Joseph Edwards Carpenter (2 November 1813, London – 6 May 1885,
Bayswater
Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...
[Boase, F., ''Modern English biography'', 6 vols, 1892-1921]) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
,
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
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
.
In 1851, Carpenter moved from
Leamington 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 ...
. He wrote various touring musical entertainments such as ''The Road, the Rail and the River'', and a ''Vocal, Pictorial, and Descriptive Illustration of
Uncle Tom's Cabin
''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U. ...
'' (1853).
He appeared in
Wisbech
Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland Port of Wisbech, port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bord ...
at the Public-hall accompanied by the Misses Jolly to present musical entertainments including ''An Hour in Fairyland'' in November 1854.
A two-act musical drama ''The Sanctuary'' and his three-act drama ''Love and Honour'' appeared in 1854, and a three-act drama ''Adam Bede'' in 1862.
He wrote lyrics for over 2500 songs and duets, publishing them in ''
Ainsworth's Magazine
William Harrison Ainsworth (4 February 18053 January 1882) was an English historical novelist born at King Street in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in ...
'' and other magazines, and partnering with various composers including
Henry Bishop,
Stephen Glover, and
James Ernest Perring
James Ernest Perring (1 March 1822 in London, England – 12 January 1889 in New York City, United States) was a British opera singer, voice trainer, and composer.
Life
As a boy, Perring led the soprano chorus at Her Majesty's Theatre before ente ...
.
From 1865 to 1867, Carpenter edited 10 volumes of ''Penny Readings in prose and verse''.
He is buried at
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...
.
Works
*''Random rhymes or lays of London'', 1833
*''Minstrel musings'', London, 1838
*''The romance of the dreamer, and other poems'', London, 1841
*''What Are the Wild Waves Saying?'', 1853
[What Are the Wild Waves Saying? Duet. w., Joseph Edwards Carpenter. m., Stephen Glover. (The words were suggested by the deathbed scene of little Paul, haunted by memories of the sea, in Dickens's novel Dombey and Son which was published in London during 1847-48. Glover brought out the song in 1850. It was reprinted by Wm. A. Pond & Co., New York, during the late 1860s or 1870s.) Greatest Hits 1820-1860 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/sm2html/sm2great4.html]
*''Songs and ballads'', new ed., London, 1844; new ed. with additions, 1854
*''Poems and lyrics'', new ed., London, 1845
*''Lays and legends of fairyland'', London & Leamington, 1849
*''My jubilee volume'', London, 1883
References
External links
*
*Sheet music fo
"The good bye at the door" Augusta, GA: Blackmar & Bro, from th
Confederate Imprints Sheet Music Collection*Sheet music fo
"Her bright smile haunts me still" Macon, GA: John C. Schreiner & Son, from th
Confederate Imprints Sheet Music CollectionSheet Music on IMSLP
English dramatists and playwrights
English songwriters
1813 births
1885 deaths
English male dramatists and playwrights
19th-century British dramatists and playwrights
19th-century English musicians
19th-century English male writers
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