Thomas Carter (May 1769 – 8 November 1800) was an Irish composer resident in London during the most creative years of his short life.

Life

Carter probably belonged to an extended family of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

musicians including, among others, Timothy Carter (c. 1715–1772) and

(Charles) Thomas Carter Charles Thomas Carter (c.1735 – 12 October 1804) was an Irish composer and organist with mixed success as an opera composer in London, but with some songs that remained popular beyond his lifetime. Life There is considerable confusion about th ...

(c. 1735–1804), with whose works his were often confused as both published music in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in the 1790s and used to abbreviate their name as "T. Carter". Other sources suggest that he was an illegitimate son of the Earl of Inchiquin. He was born in Dublin and seems to have shown an exceptional musical talent since his childhood. Sponsored by the Earl of Inchiquin, he went to study music in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, around 1788, where he became a protégé of Sir William Hamilton. He then went to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, to become the theatre's music director, but had to relocate to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in July 1789 for health reasons. He married Mary Wells from

Cookham Cookham is a historic Thames-side village and civil parish on the north-eastern edge of Berkshire, England, north-north-east of Maidenhead and opposite the village of Bourne End. Cookham forms the southernmost and most rural part of High Wyco ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

, in 1793. When he died in London at age 31, the ''

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' described him as "a victim, in early life, to the fatal ravages of the liver complaint".

Music

In ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and the ...

'' (1980 edition), Roger Fiske made the first attempt to distinguish between the works of Thomas Carter and his near-namesake (Charles) Thomas Carter. According to him, many songs published after 1793 can be attributed to Thomas, including the duet ''Goodman White and Gaffer Grey'' op. 24 (c. 1796) and a ''Canzonet'' op. 25 (c. 1796) for one or two voices, as well as the collection ''Songs, Duos, Trios, Catches, Glees and Canons'' op. 27 (n.d.). These pieces were published "for the composer" (that is, at his own expense), with Fiske assuming that the marriage to Miss Wells brought him money. The list would also include the ''Six Easy Lessons for the Harpsichord or Pianoforte'' op. 3 (n.d.). As his wife was from Berkshire, the ''Berkshire Militia March'' (c. 1795) may also be his.Boydell/Klein (2013), p. 166.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Thomas 1769 births 1800 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century British male musicians Composers for piano Deaths from liver disease Glee composers Irish classical composers Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom Irish male classical composers Musicians from Dublin (city)