William Billings
First American choral composer and singing master.
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William Billings was an American composer and the first American choral composer, born in Boston on October 7, 1746.[1][2] Billings was largely self-taught and had an unusual appearance, including a short leg and one eye.[2] Billings passed away on September 26, 1800, in Boston, and his financial situation at death was one of poverty.[1][3]
Quick Facts
- Born
- 1746
- Died
- 1800
- Field
- Music composition
- Nationality
- American
- Known for
- First American choral composer; leading member of the First New England School
Facts from the source article.
Making and release
Billings trained as a tanner after his father's death ended his formal schooling at age 14.[2] In 1769, Billings and John Barrey announced they would open a singing school in the Boston Gazette.[4] Billings taught a singing school in Stoughton, Massachusetts in 1774.[4] Billings included advice for running a singing school in the preface to the Singing Master's Assistant.[1]
The Boston city directory continued to identify Billings as a "singing master" through the year 1798.[4] In response to negative feedback about his harmonic choices, Billings created the piece "Jargon," which appears in Singing Master's Assistant.[5] After composing "Jargon," Billings produced a text titled "To the Goddess of Discord".[5]
References
- Wikipedia, "William Billings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McKay 1975, p. 82, 85 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "William Billings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nathan 1976, p. 15; Armenta 2011, p. 8 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "William Billings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nathan 1976, p. 15; Kroeger 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "William Billings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hall 2000, p. 22–23 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "William Billings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McKay 1975, p. 82, 85; McKay Crawford 2019, p. 83 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article William Billings (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: William Billings (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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