Walter Battison Haynes (21 November 1859 – 16 February 1900) was an English pianist, organist and composer.

Biography

Haynes was born in Kempsey near Worcester, and received his earliest musical education from his uncle William Haynes, who was an organist at Great Malvern Priory Church between 1850 and 1893. Battison Haynes was a chorister at the church and deputized for his uncle on the organ. He went on to study with Franklin Taylor (piano) and

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(harmony) at

Oscar Beringer Oscar Beringer (14 July 1844 – 21 February 1922) was an English pianist and teacher of German descent. Beringer was born in Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, Furtwangen in the Black Forest, but by 1849 he had moved to London when his father becam ...

's Academy for the Higher Development of Pianoforte Playing, which had been founded in 1873. But in May 1878 Haynes enrolled at the Conservatory of Leipzig to study with

Carl Reinecke Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (23 June 182410 March 1910) was a German composer, conductor, and pianist in the mid-Romantic era. Biography Reinecke was born in what is today the Hamburg district of Altona; technically he was born a Dane, as u ...

and

Salomon Jadassohn Salomon Jadassohn (13 August 1831 – 1 February 1902) was a German pianist, composer, and teacher at the Leipzig Conservatory. Life Jadassohn was born to a Jewish family living in Breslau, the capital of the Prussian province of Silesia. This ...

. While there he performed piano concertos by

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, Moscheles and

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

at Conservatorium concerts. He returned to London in 1883 after six months living in Boulogne, where he occasionally played the organ at Boulogne Cathedral. In 1884, Haynes was appointed organist at the then new St Philip Neri Church in Upper Sydenham. In 1890, he became Professor of Harmony and Composition at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

(at the time located at Tenterden Street, Hanover Square) where his best known students were Charles Macpherson and

Harry Farjeon Harry Farjeon (6 May 1878 – 29 December 1948) was a British composer and an influential teacher of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music for more than 45 years. Early life and studies Harry Farjeon was born in Hohokus Township, ...

. In 1891, he also took on the post of organist and director of the choir at the Chapel Royal, Savoy, succeeding Henry Frost. For a while, Haynes was also director of music at Borough Polytechnic. As a composer, he was encouraged by Henry Littleton, the proprietor of music publishers Novello and Company from 1866 to 1888, and by his son and successor Alfred Littleton. Novello became his primary publisher. Haynes was also friendly with

Sir Alexander Mackenzie Sir Alexander Mackenzie ( – 12 March 1820) was a Scottish explorer and fur trader known for accomplishing the first crossing of North America north of Mexico by a European in 1793. The Mackenzie River and Mount Sir Alexander are named afte ...

, and transcribed a number of his works. At the time of his death in February 1900, aged just 40, Haynes was living in London at 5 Portman Street,

Portman Square Portman Square is a garden square in Marylebone, central London, surrounded by townhouses. It was specifically for private housing let on long leases having a ground rent by the Portman Estate, which owns the private communal gardens. It mar ...

Composition

While at Leipzig, Haynes composed a Violin Sonata, Piano Trio, Concert Overture, a Symphony in Bb, the ''Prelude and Fugue for Two Pianos'' (published as op 6 in 1882) and some songs. The most notable work during this period was his substantial, four movement Organ Sonata in D minor, which likely influenced the symphonic dimensions of

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

’s Organ Sonata of 1895. The ''Vier Lieder'', setting German texts in the lieder tradition, were composed just after his Leipzig period in 1885. They were recorded by Mark Wilde and David Owen Norris in 2019. Haynes wrote vocal music for the church, for amateur and educational music making, and for the popular singers of the era. His services include three settings of the

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...

and

Nunc dimittis The Nunc dimittis (), also known as the Song of Simeon or the Canticle of Simeon, is a canticle taken from the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 29 to 32. Its Latin name comes from its incipit, the opening words, of the Vulgate transl ...

. Anthems include ''The Sun is Careering in Glory and Might'' (words by

Mary Russell Mitford Mary Russell Mitford (16 December 1787 – 10 January 1855) was an English essayist, novelist, poet and dramatist. She was born at Alresford in Hampshire, England. She is best known for '' Our Village'', a series of sketches of village scenes ...

) and ''Awake up, My Glory'' (1891). There are two cantatas for female voices and recitation, tapping into demand from amateur ladies choirs: ''Fairies’ Isle'' (text by Edward Oxenford, 1888) and ''A Sea Dream'' (text by

Shapcott Wensley Shapcott Wensley was the pseudonym of the English author and poet Henry Shapcott Bunce (1854 – 1 June 1917). Life He was born in Bristol in the summer of 1854. He died in Bristol on 1 June 1917. He married a singer, Alice Mary Wensley, an ...

, 1893). He continued to compose art songs, such as the ''Nine Elizabethan Lyrics'' (including No 4, ''Now is my Chloris'' which he also adapted as a part-song in 1898).''Musical Times'
supplement
Vol 39, No 659 (January, 1898) But his rousing Irish Republican settings and folk song adaptions in

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

style were the most popular during his lifetime, and afterwards. ''Off to Philadelphia'' (1895, arranged for and sung by

Harry Plunket Greene Harry Plunket Greene (24 June 1865 – 19 August 1936) was an Irish baritone who was most famous in the formal concert and oratorio repertoire. He wrote and lectured on his art, and was active in the field of musical competitions and examinatio ...

) and ''The Ould Plaid Shawl'' (1896) both became staples at the Henry Wood Proms in the decade following the composer’s death, and the tenor John McCormack famously revived ''Off to Philadelphia'' for a recording as late as 1941. Other works include an ''Idyll'' for violin and orchestra (revived in 1985 by the

Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra is a full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. Based in Belfast, the orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United Kingdom ...

and broadcast by the BBC), and the ''Westwood'' orchestral gavotte (named after Henry Littleton’s palatial house in Sydenham). Haynes also made extended orchestral arrangements of Handel and Mozart. His chamber music includes the ''12 Sketches'' for violin or cello and ''Three Dances'' (in canon throughout) for two violins and piano. Haynes also followed up his ambitious Organ Sonata with more works for organ, such as the ''Two Andantes'', op 14, the ''Meditation in G'' (1897) and the ''Introduction and Variations on a Ground Bass''.

References

External links

* Walter Battison Haynes

(1897). Andrew Pink (2022
Exordia ad missam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haynes, Walter Battison 1859 births 1900 deaths Academics of the Royal Academy of Music English classical pianists English classical organists English classical composers 19th-century English organists