Henry Russell (24 December 1812 or 1813 – 8 December 1900) was an English pianist, baritone singer and composer, born into a distinguished Jewish family.

Biography

Russell's career began in 1836, when at the age of 22 he traveled to the US and, in three seasons, earned no less a sum than £10,000. He subsequently lost this by investing in the United States Bank, which collapsed. Russell wrote the song " A Life on the Ocean Wave" and the tune to George Pope Morris's poem " Woodman, Spare that Tree" while living in the US from 1836 to 1841, before settling in London to produce musical extravaganzas until he retired in 1857. Many of his songs championed social causes like

abolition Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to something by law, and may refer to: *Abolitionism, abolition of slavery *Capital punishment#Abolition of capital punishment, Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment *Abolitio ...

, temperance, and reform of

mental asylum The lunatic asylum, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...

s. Russell was born in

Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, a great-nephew of the British

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

Solomon Hirschel. He began his career as a child singer in Elliston's Children's Opera company. While playing the organ at the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

church in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

he discovered that sacred music, played quickly, "makes the best kind of secular music". Old Hundredth, played very fast, became the music for "Get Out of de Way, Ol' Dan Tucker". Russell's song "The Fine Old English Gentleman" 1831 was parodied ten years later by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

in his identically titled song. The two men collaborated on a further two songs: "I Care Not For Spring on His Fickle Wing" from the ''Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' and the Christmas melody "The Ivy Green". In 1841, he returned to England and performed at the

Hanover Square Rooms The Hanover Square Rooms or the Queen's Concert Rooms were assembly rooms established, principally for musical performances, on the corner of Hanover Square, London, England, by Sir John Gallini in partnership with Johann Christian Bach and Ca ...

in London with instant success. Many of his songs were written to lyrics by Charles Mackay, including " There's a Good Time Coming", " Cheer, Boys, Cheer", and " To The West". The Hutchinson Family Singers were fans of Russell's work and performed several of his tunes, including "The Maniac" and "The Ship on Fire." After retirement, he lived partly in France, partly in England. His first wife was Christian; his second wife was Jewish and their family (including their sons, conductor Sir Landon Ronald and impresario Henry Russell) were raised in the Jewish religion. His portrait was painted by the British painter Walter Goodman and displayed in London at the Institute of Oil Painters in 1889 and at the

Grafton Galleries The Grafton Galleries, often referred to as the Grafton Gallery, was an art gallery in Mayfair, London. The French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel showed the first major exhibition in Britain of Impressionist paintings there in 1905. Roger Fry's t ...

in 1897. The '' Jewish Chronicle'' of 21 May that year describes the painting as depicting Russell "hale and hearty with flowing beard". He died at 18 Howley Place, Maida Vale, on 8 December 1900, and his remains are interred in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

. A detailed biography, ''A Life on the Ocean Wave: The Story of Henry Russell'' by Andrew Lamb, was published by Fullers Wood Press in 2007.

Media

Notes

References

External links

The Music of Henry Russell
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Henry 1810s births 1900 deaths Jewish songwriters Jewish English musicians English male songwriters Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery 19th-century English musicians People from Sheerness