William Jackson of Masham

William Jackson (born 9 January 1815 in Masham, Yorkshire, England; died 15 April 1866 in Bradford, England) was an English organist and composer,[1] who also spent some time being a miller, his family's profession, in their home-town.[2]

A self-taught musician, as a child and young adult he learned to play 15 different instruments and set about repairing barrel organs.[3] With the assistance of his father, he built his own organ and became organist at the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Masham, in 1832.[1] He won first prize in the Huddersfield Glee Club in 1840.[1] In 1852, he established a music business and became organist of St. John's Church at Bradford.[1] Later, he took the organ at Horton Chapel, was conductor of Bradford Choral Union, and chorusmaster of Bradford Festivals.[1] His works include two oratorios (Deliverance of Israel from Babylon and Isaiah); two cantatas (The Year and The Praise of Music); the 103d Psalm for solo, choir and orchestra; sacred music, glees; part-songs; and songs.[1]

Jackson died suddenly in April 1866 and was buried in Undercliffe Cemetery in Bradford. His son, also named William, became an organist and composer too.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Baker, Theodore; Remy, Alfred (1919). Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. G. Schirmer. p. 431. OCLC 19940414. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ Humphreys, Maggie; Evans, Robert (1997). Dictionary of composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland. London: Mansell. p. 183. ISBN 0-7201-2330-5.
  3. ^ Brown, Clive (23 September 2004). "Jackson, William (1815–1866)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14559. Retrieved 3 October 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ Priestley, Mike (5 August 2006). "Delivering music to a royal audience". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 3 October 2018.

Free scores by William Jackson of Masham at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)

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