Richard John Samuel Stevens (27 March 1757 – 23 September 1837) was an 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

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

Biography

Stevens was born in

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 ...

, where, in 1801, he was appointed

Gresham Professor of Music The Professor of Music at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1597, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to nine and in addition the col ...

.. In 1808 he received yet another appointment, as music master at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

. Besides being valuable in themselves, these appointments helped him to attract the wealthy pupils on whom his living substantially depended. In 1810 Stevens married Anna Jeffery, after a long courtship; in 1811 they had a son, Richard George, who entered

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1834. He embarked on the life of a gentleman of leisure, made possible by a substantial bequest from one of his father’s friends in 1817. He died in Peckham near London. Stevens's chief claim to attention is as a composer of

glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

s. He was not prolific, considering the length of his life; the bulk of his composing was done between 1780 and 1800. Stevens was more careful than many contemporaries in his choice of texts, and devoted special attention to

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. Of his 15 Shakespearean glees, composed between 1782 and 1807, five are among his best-known pieces: "Ye spotted snakes" (1782, rev. 1791), "Sigh no more, ladies" (1787), "Crabbed age and youth" (1790), "Blow, blow, thou winter wind" (1793) and "The cloud-cap't towers"(1795). Among Stevens’s compositions that did not outlive him were some anthems, including several for Christ's Hospital; three keyboard sonatas; an opera entitled ''Emma''; and a few songs and hymn tunes. Stevens was a professional member of the

Anacreontic Society The Anacreontic Society was a popular gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London founded in the mid-18th century. These barristers, doctors, and other professional men named their club after the Greek court poet Anacreon, who lived in the 6th ...

and it is through his journal accounts that we know that

John Stafford Smith John Stafford Smith (bapt. 30 March 175021 September 1836) was a British composer, church organist, and early musicologist. He was one of the first serious collectors of manuscripts of works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Smith is best known for w ...

wrote their club song "The Anacreontic Song", which, considerably altered and with new words, is now the national anthem of the USA, "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

Notes

External links

* *
Recollections of R. J. S. Stevens: An Organist in Georgian London
English classical composers English organists English male organists 1757 births 1837 deaths English opera composers English male opera composers Glee composers {{UK-composer-stub

Biography

See also

Notes

External links