William Hayes (composer)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

William Hayes (1706 – 27 July 1777) was an English composer, organist, singer and conductor.


Life

Hayes was born in
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
. He trained at
Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster dedicated to S ...
where the cathedral account books record his name amongst the choristers from 1717. He spent the early part of his working life as organist of St Mary's,
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
(1729) and
Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified ...
(1731). The majority of his career was spent at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
where he was appointed organist of
Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the st ...
in 1734, and established his credentials with the degrees of B.Mus in 1735 and D.Mus in 1749. (He was painted by John Cornish in his doctoral robes around 1749.) In 1741 he was unanimously elected
Heather Professor of Music The Heather Professor of Music is the title of an endowed chair at the University of Oxford. The post and the funding for it come from a bequest by William Heather (c. 1563 – 1627). Following the example of his friend William Camden who had left p ...
and organist of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin. He presided over Oxford's concert life for the next 30 years, and was instrumental in the building of the Holywell Music Room in 1748, the oldest purpose-built music room in Europe. He was one of the earliest members of the
Royal Society of Musicians The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain is a charity in the United Kingdom that supports musicians. It is the oldest music-related charity in Great Britain, founded in 1738 as the ''Fund for Decay'd Musicians'' by a declaration of trust sign ...
, and in 1765 was elected a "privileged member" of the Noblemen and Gentlemen's Catch Club. He died in Oxford, aged 69.


Music style

William Hayes was an enthusiastic Handelian, and one of the most active conductors of his oratorios and other large-scale works outside London. His wide knowledge of Handel left a strong impression on his own music, but by no means dominated it. As a composer he tended towards genres largely ignored by Handel—English chamber cantatas, organ-accompanied anthems and convivial vocal music—and his vocal works show an English preference for non- da capo aria forms. Hayes also cultivated a self-consciously ‘learned’ polyphonic style (perhaps inspired by his antiquarian interests) which can be seen in his many canons, full-anthems, and the strict fugal movements of his instrumental works. Nevertheless, several of his late trio sonatas show that he was not deaf to newly emerging Classical styles. Although he published virtually none of his instrumental music, his vocal works were extremely popular, and the printed editions were subscribed to by large numbers of amateur and professional musicians. Substantial works like his ode ''The Passions'', the one-act oratorio ''The Fall of Jericho'', and his ''Six Cantatas'' demonstrate that Hayes was one of the finest English composers of the eighteenth century. As a writer, his ''Art of Composing Music'' includes the first published description of aleatoric composition—music composed by chance—albeit deliberately satirical in intent. In his ''Remarks'' he reveals much about his aesthetic outlook: in particular that he valued the music of Handel and Corelli over that of Rameau,
Benedetto Marcello Benedetto Giacomo Marcello (; 31 July or 1 August 1686 – 24 July 1739) was an Italian composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher. Life Born in Venice, Benedetto Marcello was a member of a noble family and in his compositions he is f ...
and Geminiani. Finally, the ''Anecdotes'' offer insights into the organisation of provincial music festivals in the mid-eighteenth century. Hayes bequeathed his important and wide-ranging music library to his son Philip Hayes; the manuscripts of both father and son eventually passed to the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
, Oxford, in 1801.


Main works


Sacred works

* ''The Fall of Jericho'', oratorio, c. 1740–50 * ''Sixteen Psalms'' (London, 1773) * ''David'', oratorio, completed by Philip Hayes * around 20 anthems and service music, in ''Cathedral Music in Score'', edited by Philip Hayes (Oxford, 1795)


Secular vocal works

* ''12 Arietts or Ballads and 2 Cantatas'' (Oxford, 1735) * ''When the fair consort'', ode (Oxford, 1735) * ''Circe'', masque (Oxford, 1742) * ''Six Cantatas'' (London, 1748) * ''Peleus and Thetis'' c. 1749 * ''The Passions'', ode, (text by William Collins), 1750 * ''Where shall the Muse'', ode, 1751 * ''Hark! Hark from every tongue'', ode, 1759 * ''Ode to the Memory of Mr. Handel'', c. 1759 * ''Daughters of Beauty'', ode, 1773 * Catches, Glees and Canons, books i–iv (London, 1757–85)


Instrumental works

* Six concerti grossi, strings (Bb, D, g, d, D, Bb) * ''The Rival Nations'', concerto * Bassoon concerto, lost * Harpsichord concerto in G, c. 1735–40 * Organ concerto in A * Organ concerto in D, 1755 * Six trio sonatas (F, Bb, D, F, Bb, e)


Writings

* ''The Art of Composing Music by a Method Entirely New'' (London, 1751) * ''Remarks on Mr. Avison's Essay on Musical Expression'' (London, 1753) * ''Anecdotes of the Five Music Meetings'' (Oxford, 1768)


Discography

* ''O Worship the Lord'', in 'The Georgian Anthem', Choir of New College, Oxford, 1988 (Meridian, CDE 84151) * Concertos, Sinfonias and Overtures, performed by Capriccio Basel, 2006 (Capriccio SACD 71135) * Aria and Chorus from ''The Passions'',
Emma Kirkby Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, (; born 26 February 1949) is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings. Education and early career Kirkby was educated at Hanford School, Sherborne School for Girls in Dors ...
, Cantilation, Antony Walker, 2006 (ABC Classics 4765255) * The Passions (An Ode for Music, Oxford 1750). La Cetra Barockorchester Basel. Anthony Rooley, Glossa (1 CD, June 2010)Complete excerpts are available her

and short excerpts from the whole work her

/ref> *William Hayes: Professor of Music. Vocal and Instrumental Music including Ode to Echo, Winter Scene at Ross, Concertos (including Harpsichord Concerto), Trio sonata in E minor. Corelli Orchestra, Evelyn Tubb. www.corelliconcerts.co.uk * ''Ceremonial Oxford: Music for the Georgian University by William Hayes (1708–1777)'', Choir of Keble College, Oxford, Instruments of Time and Truth (CRD 3534) *William Hayes: The Fall of Jericho Corelli Orchestra, Hannah Davey, James Gilchrist, Peter Harvey, Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum. www.corelliconcerts.co.uk


Bibliography

*Heighes, Simon. ''The Lives and Works of William and Philip Hayes'', Garland Press (Outstanding Dissertations in Music from British Universities), New York, 1995 *Shaw, Watkins. ''The Succession of Organists'', Oxford, 1991


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, William 1708 births 1777 deaths English organists British male organists English classical composers English Baroque composers Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford People educated at the King's School, Gloucester Heather Professors of Music 18th-century classical composers 18th-century British male musicians 18th-century keyboardists English male classical composers Musicians from Gloucestershire People from Gloucester Members of the Royal Society of Musicians