Horsley, William (EN)

Horsley William, *15 November 1774 London, †12 June 1858 London, English organist, composer, and teacher. From 1790, for five years, he studied music with the pianist and composer Th. Smith. Thanks to his contacts with J.W. Callcott, he tried his hand at composition. In 1794 he became organist at Ely Chapel in Holborn; from 1797 he was a member of the Royal Society of Musicians. At the same time, he collaborated with Callcott as assistant organist at a girls’ orphanage in Dulwich, and after Callcott resigned from the post of organist, Horsley took over the position and held it for over 50 years (1802–54). He was one of the initiators of the musical society Concentores Sodales (1798–1847), devoted to the cultivation of glees. In 1800, on the basis of the anthem When Israel Came Out of Egypt, he received a Bachelor of Music degree in Oxford. He was one of the founders of the Philharmonic Society (1813) and a member of the Catch Club. In the years 1812–37 he served as organist at Belgrave Chapel, and from 1838 at Charterhouse. In 1847 he became a member of the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. In 1813 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Callcott. In 1829, during Mendelssohn’s stay in England, he made his acquaintance, which developed into a close friendship. Of Horsley’s five children, the youngest son Charles Edward gained recognition as an organist and composer, while the eldest, John Callcott, was a painter and is considered the designer of the first Christmas card (1847).

William Horsley gained fame primarily as a composer of glees, which were characterized by strong emotional expression, elegance, and simplicity of contrapuntal texture. His glees By Celia’s Arbour, O, Nightingale, Now the storm begins in love are among the best examples of this distinct category of English compositions and, like his ballads Gentle Lyre and The Sailor’s Adieu, were very popular during his lifetime due to the beauty of their melodic lines. Their accompaniment, however, was rather dry and monotonous. Of his sacred music, now largely forgotten, the hymns Belgrave (1819) and Horsley (1844) are still sung in the Anglican Church. Horsley’s instrumental output, including piano works and three lost symphonies for orchestra, is of lesser importance. In his theoretical writings, he represented conservative views, recognizing only strict, traditional rules of harmony.

Literature: Rosamund Brunel Gotsch (ed.) Mendelssohn and his Friends in Kensington: Letters from Fanny and Sophy Horsley Written 1833–36, Oxford, 1934; Archive of the Horsley family. https://archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repositories/2/resources3223