Joseph Harris (organist)

Joseph Harris (1743–1814) was a composer and organist based in Ludlow and then Birmingham.[1]

Sketch of Joseph Harris.

Life

He was born in Bristol, son of John and Mary Harris, on 8 September 1743 and baptised in St. Nicholas Church on 8 October 1743.[2]

He matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford on 16 March 1773, and graduated B.Mus. 24 March 1779, whilst organist at Ludlow Parish Church. He compiled a personal manuscript copy of Handel's Messiah in 1766.[3]

He was known as a virtuoso keyboardist, performing at concerts throughout the region before gaining the position of organist at St Martin's in Birmingham in 1787. One of his pupils was Anne Boulton, daughter of Birmingham industrialist Matthew Boulton.[4]

He married his cousin Ann Harris (1747-1767) on 12 January 1767 at Ludlow, but she died later in the same year. He married again on 22 October 1771, to Anne Silvester (1748 - 1812) in Birmingham, with whom he had 11 children.[5]

He died either in Liverpool[1] or at Eccleston Hill Lodge Lodge (although this source incorrectly calls it Ecclusham Lodge near Wrexham).[6] He was buried in Birmingham on 23 February 1814.[7]

Appointments

Cultural offices
Preceded by
David Valentine		 Organist of St Laurence Church, Ludlow
1764-1771 		Succeeded by
Miles Coyle
Preceded by
Richard Hobbs?		 Organist of St Martin in the Bull Ring
1771-1802 		Succeeded by
unknown

Compositions

He wrote:

References

  1. 1 2 A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & and Other Stage Personnel in London: 1660-1800. Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans, SIU Press, 1982
  2. ↑ Geni.com profile
  3. ↑ Joseph Harris, Birmingham organist (1744–1814), and his Messiah manuscript. Early Music Magazine, 2011
  4. ↑ Music in Eighteenth Century Birmingham, by Martin Perkins, April 2015
  5. ↑ Geni.com profile
  6. ↑ The monthly magazine, Vol 39, no. 3 (no. 267) of 1 April 1815
  7. ↑ Family search
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.