Samuel Holyoke › Hymnals

Short Name: Samuel Holyoke
Full Name: Holyoke, Samuel, 1762-1820
Birth Year: 1762
Death Year: 1820

Samuel Holyoke, American composer and teacher of vocal and instrumental music, was the son of Rev. Elizur Holyoke and Hannah Peabody. He was born on 15 October 1762 in Boxford, Massachusetts, in Essex County, and died on 7 February 1820, Concord, New Hampshire, in Merrimack County. He was a Congregationalist and a Mason, and never married.

After preparatory training at at Phillips Academy, Andover Holyoke matriculated at Harvard College in 1786. The source of his musical training is unknown, but he was composed music before he graduated from Harvard in 1789. In 1789-1790, he contributed four secular compositions to Isaiah Thomas’s Massachusetts Magazine. A prolific composer, he composed some 700 pieces, including psalm tunes and anthems and occasional pieces, some with instrumental accompaniment.

In 1793, Holyoke helped to found Groton Academy in Groton, Massachusetts, where he served as the first headmaster.[citation needed] In 1809–1810 Holyoke served as music instructor at Phillips Academy.[citation needed]

After his death, his music was largely forgotten. His importance to American music was summed up by music historian George Hood: "There was no man of his day that did more for the cause of music than Samuel Holyoke."
Published works

Harmonia Americana (Boston, 1791)
The Massachusetts Compiler (Boston, 1795, with Oliver Holden and Hans Gram)
"Exeter: for Thanksgiving" (Exeter, NH, 1798)
"Hark from the Tombs" and "Beneath the Honors" (Exeter, NH, 1800, in honor of George Washington)
The Instrumental Assistant (Exeter, NH, 1800)
A Dedication Service (Exeter, NH, 1801)
Occasional Music (Exeter, NH, 1802)
The Columbian Repository (Exeter, NH, 1803)
Masonic Music (Exeter, NH, 1803)
A Dedication Service (Salem, MA, 1804; different music from the 1801 publication)
The Christian Harmonist (Salem, MA, 1804)
The Occasional Companion, nos. 1-7) (Exeter, NH, Dedham, MA, and Boston, 1806-after 1810)
The Instrumental Assistant II (Exeter, NH, 1807)
The Vocal Companion (Exeter, NH, 1807)

--en.wikipedia.org


TextsTunesHymnals
Hymnals by Samuel Holyoke (5)sort descendingAsPublication Year
Columbian repository of sacred harmony: selected from European and American authors, with many new tunes not before published ; including the whole of Dr. Watts' Psalms and hymns, to each of which a tHolyoke, Samuel, 1771-1816. (Author)1802
Harmonia Americana: containing a concise introduction to the grounds of music; with a variety of airs, suitable fore divine worship and the use of musical societies; consisting of three and four partsSamuel Holyoke, A. B. (Editor)1791
The Christian Harmonist: containing a set of tunes adapted to all the metres in Mr. Rippon's Selection of Hymns, in the collection of hymns by Mr. Joshua Smith, and in Dr. Watt's Psalms and Hymns...Samuel Holyoke, A. M. (Editor)1804
The Columbian Repository: or, Sacred Harmony: selected from European and American authors with many new tunes not before publishedSamuel A. Holyoke (Editor)1803
The Vocal Companion: containing a concise introduction to the practice of music, and a set of tunes of various metres, arranged progressively for the use of learnersSamuel Holyoke, A. M. (Editor)1807
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us