William Tuckey (1708 in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

shire, England – September 14, 1781) was an American composer, who exerted important influence on the musical life of the Colonial United States. He was one of the first American composers to gain notability, and was also a choir master and organist. Tuckey debuted

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

's ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

'' in the Americas for the first time in 1770.

Life

Before moving to New York, Tuckey was a Frenchman who had been

Lay Clerk A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in an Anglican cathedral and often Roman Catholic Cathedrals in the UK, or (occasionally) collegiate choir in Britain and Ireland. The vicars chora ...

of the Bristol Cathedral, and clerk of the

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

. He emigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1753. Upon arrival to New York, he was appointed a clerk of Trinity Church. He then convinced the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

of Trinity that music should be taught to the students of the charity school, which had been established in 1739 by the church. In this way, he acquired a choir to sing for him in services. He also continued composing. Despite his efforts to establish regular choral singing in America, the time was not ripe for his labors.''Our American Music, A Comprehensive History from 1620 to the Present, Fourth Edition, 1965''

Works

Though the only surviving works of Tuckey are those in psalm collections, his music was well known in his time. Through advertisements for subscriptions, it can be known what Tuckey wrote: Tuckey also wrote an anthem called ''Thanksgiving Anthem'', which was sung for

Jeffery Amherst Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army. Amherst is credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaign ...

in 1760, upon his return to New York after the Conquest of Canada. He wrote another anthem called ''Anthem from the 97th Psalm'', which was later known as ''Liverpool'', and anonymously included in James Lyon's ''Urania'', a collection of psalm tunes. Tuckey also may have written a piece called ''Ode on Masonry''.

References

1708 births 1781 deaths American male composers American composers Musicians from Somerset Burials at Christ Church, Philadelphia People from colonial Pennsylvania English emigrants 18th-century American composers 18th-century male musicians {{US-composer-stub