William Henry Fry (August 10, 1813 – December 21, 1864) was an American

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 ...

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

, and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. Fry was the first known person born in the United States to write for a large

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

, and the first to compose a publicly performed opera. He was also the first music critic for a major American newspaper, and he was the first known person to insist that his fellow countrymen support American-made music.

Biography

William Henry Fry was born on August 10, 1813, in

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 ...

. His father, William Fry, was a prominent printer and, along with

Roberts Vaux Roberts Vaux (January 25, 1786 – January 7, 1836) was an American lawyer, jurist, abolitionist, and philanthropist. Early life He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the eldest son of a well-known Religious Society of Friends, Quaker famil ...

and Robert Walsh, ran the '' National Gazette and Literary Register'', a major American newspaper at the time—edited by Robert Walsh from 1821 to 1836. William Henry had four brothers—Joseph Reese, Edward Plunket, Charles, and Horace Fry. He was educated at what is now

Mount Saint Mary's University Mount St. Mary's University (The Mount) is a private Roman Catholic university in Emmitsburg, Maryland. It includes the largest Catholic seminary in the United States. The undergraduate programs are divided between the College of Liberal Arts, ...

Emmitsburg, Maryland Emmitsburg is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania. Founded in 1785, Emmitsburg is the home of Mount St. Mary's University. The town has two Catholic pilgrima ...

. After returning to Philadelphia to work for his father, he studied composition with Leopold Meignen, a former band leader in Napoleon Bonaparte's army and the music director of the Musical Fund Society orchestra. He eventually became secretary of the Musical Fund Society. Fry's operatic compositions include ''Aurelia the Vestal'', ''Leonora'' (based on the 1838 play ''

The Lady of Lyons ''The Lady of Lyons; or, Love and Pride'', commonly known as ''The Lady of Lyons'', is a five act romantic melodrama written in 1838 by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton. It was first produced in London at Covent Garden Theatre on 15 Februar ...

''), and ''Notre-Dame of Paris'' (based on the 1831 novel by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

). ''Leonora'' was a very successful production at its premiere in 1845 and second run the following year. ''Leonora'' is also significant as it was the first grand opera written by an American composer. The opera was written for

Ann Childe Seguin Ann(e) Childe Seguin (1811–1888) was a British and American opera singer who was part of the Seguin Troupe in America. Her best known role was as the lead in ''The Bohemian Girl''. Life Ann Childe was born in London on 20 April 1811. Her paren ...

who took the title role when it opened.More Tresures from Tams
Geri Laudati, University of Wisconsin Madison, retrieved 15 May 2015 After a six-year sojourn in Europe (1846–52), where he served as foreign correspondent to the ''

Philadelphia Public Ledger The ''Public Ledger'' was a daily newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, published from March 25, 1836, to January 1942. Its motto was "Virtue Liberty and Independence". For a time, it was Philadelphia's most popular newspaper, but circulation de ...

'',

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...

's ''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

'', and ''The Message Bird'' (later known as the ''New York Musical World and Times''), Fry gave a series of eleven widely publicized lectures in New York's Metropolitan Hall. These dealt with subjects such as the history and theory of music as well as the state of American classical music. In addition to his operas, Fry wrote seven symphonies that have extra-musical themes. His ''Santa Claus: Christmas Symphony'' of 1853, which was very well received by audiences but derided by many of Fry's rival critics, may be the first orchestral use of the saxophone, invented barely a decade before. His 1854 ''Niagara Symphony'', written for

Louis Jullien Louis George Maurice Adolphe Roche Albert Abel Antonio Alexandre Noë Jean Lucien Daniel Eugène Joseph-le-brun Joseph-Barême Thomas Thomas Thomas-Thomas Pierre Arbon Pierre-Maurel Barthélemi Artus Alphonse Bertrand Dieudonné Emanuel Josué V ...

's orchestra, uses eleven

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

to create the roar of the waters,

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

s to reproduce the hiss of the spray, and a remarkable series of discordant,

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, ...

descending scales to reproduce the chaos of the falling waters as they crash onto the rocks. Fry's other works, including ''Leonora'' (New York debut in 1858) and ''Notre-Dame of Paris'' (1864, Philadelphia), received mixed reviews along partisan lines:

conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

tended to dislike Fry's music, whereas political

progressives Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techno ...

highly enjoyed it. His other musical works included the ''Overture to Macbeth'', the ''Breaking Heart'', string quartets and sacred

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

music. From 1852 until his death in 1864, Fry served as music critic and political editor for the ''

''.

Death

William Henry Fry died at age 51 on December 21, 1864, in Santa Cruz (Saint Croix) in the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix ...

. His death was apparently from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

"accelerated by exhaustion." He is buried at

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery is ...

Compositions

* Opera ''Leonora'' (1845) * Santa Claus, Christmas Symphony (1853) * Hagar In the Wilderness, Sacred Symphony (1853) * Niagara Symphony (1854) * Stabat Mater: An Oratorio (1855) * Overture to Macbeth (1864) * The Breaking Heart (aka ''Adagio'', ''Adagio sostenuto'') According to music historian David Mason Greene, much of Fry's musical output was lost after his death.

Writings

In addition to his journalistic output, Fry wrote one book, ''Artificial Fish-Breeding'', published in 1858.

Modern editions

Fry, William Henry. "Santa Claus: Christmas Symphony (1853)." Edited by Sam Dennison. In ''Three Centuries of American Music: A collection of American sacred and secular music'', Volume 9: ''American orchestral music, 1800–1879''. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1992. This edition is part of a larger multi-volume set and contains a newly copied version of the ''Santa Claus Symphony'', based on the manuscript held in the Fleisher Collection, now at the

Free Library of Philadelphia The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves Philadelphia. It is the 13th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the City of Philadelphia gove ...

. The introduction includes a short biography of Fry as well as specific information about the composition of the symphony and its critical reception. Also included in the volume are orchestral works by Fry's musical contemporaries:

Philip Trajetta Philip Trajetta (Filippo Traetta) (January 8, 1777 – January 9, 1854) was an Italian-born American composer and music teacher. The son of Italian composer Tommaso Traetta, in 1800 he moved as a political refugee to the United States, where he had ...

, Charles Zeuner, Anthony Philip Heinrich,

George Frederick Bristow George Frederick Bristow (December 19, 1825 – December 13, 1898) was an American composer. He advocated American classical music, rather than favoring European pieces. He was famously involved in a related controversy involving William Henr ...

Dudley Buck Dudley Buck (March 10, 1839October 6, 1909) was an American composer, organist, and writer on music. He published several books, most notably the ''Dictionary of Musical Terms'' and ''Influence of the Organ in History'', which was published i ...

and Fry's teacher Leopold Meignen. Fry, William Henry. "Christmas Symphony." Transcribed for concert band by Charles Fernandez. Los Angeles: Trone Music, 2013.

References

External links

Encyclopedia of World Biography on William Henry Fry

Liner notes by Kile Smith
for recording of Fry's Santa Claus Symphony, Overture to Macbeth, Niagara Symphony and The Breaking Heart (Naxos 8.559057) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, William Henry American male classical composers Musicians from Philadelphia American opera composers Male opera composers American Romantic composers 1813 births 1864 deaths Tuberculosis deaths in the United States Virgin Islands 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis American music critics New-York Tribune personnel 19th-century American journalists 19th-century classical composers Mount St. Mary's University alumni Journalists from Pennsylvania Writers from Philadelphia American male journalists 19th-century American composers 19th-century American male writers Classical musicians from Pennsylvania 19th-century American male musicians