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composer journalist music-critic
William Henry Fry was born on August 10, 1815, in Philadelphia. Hy was the son of William and Ann (Flee- son) Fry, both Philadelphians.
The father, a man of considerable prominence, was the publisher of the National Gazette; the mother was a grand-daughter of Judge Plunkett Fleeson.
Fry was educated in his native city and at Mount St. Mary’s College, Emmitsburg, Maryland. Though he showed an aptitude for music early in life, it attracted no special attention until he taught himself to play the piano by listening to the lessons of an elder brother.
Fry was then placed under the best teachers and began the study of harmony and counterpoint under the able musician, Leopold Meignen, a graduate of the Paris Conservatory.
Fry composed his first overture when he was fourteen. On June 4, 1845, he presented his first opera, Leonora, which is known as the first publicly performed grand opera written by a native American. The libretto, based on The Lady of Lyons, was written by his brother, Joseph R. Fry.
It had several successful performances by the Seguin company, in Philadelphia at the Chestnut Street Theatre, and at the New York Academy of Music. In both places, it ran for some time. Thirteen years later, in March 1858, it was revived in New York with an Italian translation and was produced under the direction of Carl Anschutz, with an excellent cast of Italian singers.
The complete work was never published, but airs from it show traces of Irish melodies and are reminiscent of Donizetti and Balfe. A well-known drinking song is its most interesting number.
He also wrote a few songs, piano pieces, and “chamber quartets, ” but his most important instrumental compositions were his four symphonies: The Breaking Heart; A Day in the Country, Santa Claus, or the Christmas Symphony, and Childe Harold, performed in New York and on tour by Jullien’s Orchestra, brought to America in 1853.
Fry never followed music as a profession; in 1839, he entered the field of journalism in his father’s office, and in 1844, he became editor of the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
From 1846 to 1852, he was in Europe as Paris and London correspondent of the New York Tribune, the Philadelphia Ledger, and other newspapers. In 1852, he returned to New York as an editorial writer and music-editor of the Tribune. He also made many political speeches, wrote on economic problems, and in 1861 received an appointment as secretary of legation at Turin.
He retained his interest in music all his life, however, and continued to produce musical works and to give lectures on musical history. In 1855, he composed a Stabat Mater, and in 1863 completed his second opera, Notre Dame de Paris. The latter was successfully produced in Philadelphia, under Thomas, and later in New York, but the text, written by his brother Joseph, was unpoetic and rather uninteresting.
With Leonora, it attained merely ephemeral success. Both operas contained ingratiating melodies, strongly imitative of French and Italian models, but Fry lacked dramatic force.
He died in Santa Cruz, California.
Fry was the first successful American opera composer, and his fluent pen and ready speech made him a power in furthering American music. His opera "Leonora" had absolute success. He also made many political speeches, wrote on economic problems, and in 1861 received an appointment as secretary of legation at Turin. He retained his interest in music all his life, however, and continued to produce musical works and to give lectures on musical history.
(This reproduction was printed from a digital file created...)
