Richard Storrs Willis

Richard Storrs Willis
www.wikipedia.org
Short Name: Richard Storrs Willis
Full Name: Willis, Richard Storrs, 1819-1900
Birth Year: 1819
Death Year: 1900

Richard Storrs Willis (February 10, 1819 – May 10, 1900) was an American composer, notably of hymn music. One of his hymns is "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" (1850), with lyrics by Edmund Sears. He was also a music critic and journal editor.

Willis, whose siblings included Nathaniel Parker Willis and Fanny Fern, 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 and 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, for which he served as editor for a time. He joined the New-York American-Music Association, an organization which promoted the work native of naturalized American composers. He reviewed the organization's first concert for their second season, held December 30, 1856, in the Musical World, as a "creditable affair, all things considered".

Willis began his own journal, Once a Month: A Paper of Society, Belles-Lettres and Art, and published its first issue in January 1862.

Willis died on May 7, 1900. His interment was located at Woodlawn Cemetery.

His works and music compilations include:

Church Chorals and Choir Studies (1850)
Our Church Music (1856)
Waif of Song (1876)
Pen and Lute (1883)

--en.wikipedia.org


Texts by Richard Storrs Willis (4)sort ascendingAsAuthority LanguagesInstances
Through thy protecting careRichard Storrs Willis (Author)English1
It came upon the midnight clearRichard S. Willis (Author)English1
Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all natureR. S. Willis (Translator)English38
Beautiful Savior, King of CreationRichard Storrs Willis, 1819- (Translator)English4
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