Richard Storrs Willis
Richard Storrs Willis (1819 - 1900) was an American composer, notably of hymn music.
Biography
Willis, whose siblings included Nathaniel Parker Willis and Fanny Fern,[1] was born on February 10, 1819 in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Chauncey Hall, the Boston Latin School, and Yale College where he was a member of Skull & Bones in 1841.
Willis then went to Germany, where he studied six years under Xavier Schnyder and Moritz Hauptmann. While there, he became a personal friend of Felix Mendelssohn. After returning to America, Willis served as music critic for the New York Tribune, The Albion, and The Musical Times, and edited The Musical Times (1852-64).
Additionally, he was a newspaper critic and a music journal editor. He died on May 7, 1900.
Works
His works and music compilations include:
- Church Chorals and Choir Studies (1850)
- Our Church Music (1856)
- Waif of Song (1876)
- Pen and Lute (1883)
One of his better known hymns is "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" (1850), lyrics by Edmund Sears.
References
- ^ Baker, Thomas N. Nathaniel Parker Willis and the Trials of Literary Fame. New York, Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-19-512073-6. p. 160
General
- The Book of World Famous Music, Popular, Classical and Folk (1966), by James Fuld.
- The Hymns and Hymn Writers of the Church (1911), by Charles Nutter and Wilbur Tillett
External links
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