William James Robjohn, better known by the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Caryl Florio, (2 November 1843 - 21 November 1920) was an English-born American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, conductor,

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

, and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Life and career

William James Robjohn was born on 2 November 1843 in

Tavistock, Devon Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the United Kingdom 2011 Census, 2011 census, t ...

. He left

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

with his family for the United States, arriving in New York City at the age of 14. He was a boy soloist at Trinity Church in Manhattan as a teenager. After working as church choir director and organist at several different churches, Robjohn took up a career on the stage as an actor in 1862; touring the northern part of the United States for a six-year period. In 1868 he returned to New York City where he was active as music critic, music teacher, pianist, and conductor. In 1870 he adopted the name Caryl Florio in response to his family's objections to his career choice. His the music textbook ''A Textbook of Practical Harmony'' was published by the London music publishers Morgan & Scott in 1892. In 1896 Florio left New York City for

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

to take a position as organist at the newly built Cathedral of All Souls; a church established by

George Washington Vanderbilt II George Washington Vanderbilt II (November 14, 1862 – March 6, 1914) was an American art collector and member of the prominent Vanderbilt family, which amassed a huge fortune through steamboats, railroads, and various business enterprises. He ...

. He remained in that position through 1901, and was afterwards active as a music teacher and choir conductor in Asheville. He died in

Morganton, North Carolina Morganton is a city in and county seat of Burke County, North Carolina, United States. It is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the Catawba River. The population was 17,474 at the 2020 census. Morganton is approximately ...

on 21 November 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Florio, Caryl 1843 births 1920 deaths American composers American music critics American organists