Richard William Beaty (c.1799–1883) was an Irish music teacher, composer and organist. He is now known for ''Tenderness'', a popular hymn tune of the 19th century.

Life

He was the son of William Beary, born in Dublin, and was educated at

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the ( ...

. He was appointed organist and musical instructor at the

Molyneux Asylum The Molyneux Asylum for Blind Females was opened June 1, 1815 in Peter Street, Dublin, in what was formerly the residence of Thomas Molyneux (1641-1733), whose sister-in-law, Lucy Domville, had been blind. The building had been sold to Philip ...

for Blind Women, Dublin, around 1824. Beaty lived in Blessington Street, Dublin. He preached and was organist of the

Free Church, Great Charles Street, Dublin Free Church, Great Charles Street, Dublin was a proprietary episcopal chapel in Summerhill, Dublin, Summerhill, off Mountjoy Square in Dublin. Built by Methodist Church in Ireland, Methodists, in 1800, designed by architect Edward Robbins, and ...

from 1828 to 1877. His successor as organist was his pupil Richard Harrison. He was master of the choristers in Christ Church Cathedral from February 1830, where he had been deputising for the absent Walter Hamerton; he resigned the post in 1872. Another of his pupils was the musician

Robert Prescott Stewart Sir Robert Prescott Stewart (16 December 1825 – 24 March 1894) was an Irish composer, organist, conductor, and teacher – one of the most influential (classical) musicians in 19th-century Ireland. Biography Stewart was born in Dublin; his gr ...

. He died in Dublin, 1883.

Works

* ''The hymns and psalms ... as sung in the Magdalen Asylum Leeson Street'' (1825), David Weyman, revision by Beaty * ''One hundred and fifty hymns'' (1844) * ''Sequel to Melodia Sacra'', vol. III, hymns by Thomas Kelly, with J. Smith, R. P. Stewart and J. Rambaut He composed the tune ''Tenderness'', sometimes called "Caritas". The attribution to Beaty was by George Arthur Crawford, who wrote a Biographical Index to the ''Church Hymnal'' of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

. The tune was originally composed for the children of a school set up in 1825 in Summerhill, a district of Northside, Dublin, with support from Viscountess Harberton. In the 1894 ''Church Hymnal'' by R. P. Stewart, Caritas is given as the alternate tune to Marianne Nunn's version of the hymn ''One there is above all others'', from the original by John Newton. Stewart dates the composition as from 1830. With the propagation of hymns and tunes through hymnals, Beaty's connection with the tune was kept, but his biographical details were lost: see 447 (''One is kind above all others'', a variant of Nunn's words) in the ''Handbook to the Mennonite Hymnary'' (1949).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaty, Richard William 1799 births 1883 deaths Composers for pipe organ Irish Anglicans Irish choral conductors Irish male organists 19th-century Irish organists 19th-century Irish composers Irish male composers