Harry Rowe Shelley

Harry Rowe Shelley (June 8, 1858 – September 12, 1947) was an American composer, organist (church and concert), and professor of music. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Shelley studied with Gustave J. Stoeckel at Yale College, Dudley Buck, Max (Wilhelm Carl) Vogrich, and Antonín Dvořák in New York, and completed his musical education in London and Paris. According to his New York Times obituary, Shelley "penned church music that won him wide popularity. For 60 years a host of English-speaking peoples throughout the world sang his hymns."

Shelley attended Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven, Connecticut and at fourteen played the organ at Center Church on the Green in New Haven. Although he entered Yale, he did not complete his freshman year. Shelley was organist at the Church of the Pilgrims during the ministry of Henry Ward Beecher and played at his funeral. Shelley died at age 89 in Short Beach, Connecticut.

Shelley taught at the American Institute of Applied Music, where his students included composers Mabel Madison Watson and Gertrude Hoag Wilson, among others.

Positions held

  • 1878–1881 — Organist, Church of the Pilgrims, Brooklyn
  • 1881–1887 — Organist, Plymouth Church (same)
  • 1887–1899 — Organist, Church of the Pilgrims
  • 1899–1914 — Organist, Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, New York, which later became Park Avenue Baptist and eventually Riverside Church
  • 1915–1936 — Organist, Central Congregational Church, Brooklyn
  • Faculty member, American Institute of Applied Music

Selected compositions

Among his works are two symphonies; a symphonic poem: The Crusaders; a suite for orchestra: Souvenir de Baden-Baden; sacred cantatas: Vexilla Regis (1893);The Inheritance Divine (1895); Death and Life (1898); a violin concerto; an opera: Leila (manuscript); anthems: The King of Love My Shepherd Is (1886); Hark!, Hark, My Soul (1887); an arrangement for Harriet Beecher Stowe's poem Still, Still with Thee (1930); and other songs and organ pieces. He also composed the Santa Claus Overture; and Lochinvar's Ride (1915).

Honors

  • 1898 — Elected to membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Birth and Death Data: Born June 8, 1858, Died September 12, 1947

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1894 - 1941

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, lyricist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 1-25 of 46 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Berliner 356 7-in. Before 1895 Love’s sorrow Soprano vocalist(s) (unidentified; Berliner Gramophone Records) Female vocal solo composer, lyricist  
Victor [Pre-matrix A-]1502 7-in. 7/24/1902 The resurrection Herbert Goddard Baritone vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix B-]1502 10-in. 7/24/1902 The resurrection Herbert Goddard Baritone vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix B-]3399 10-in. 5/24/1901 Love's sorrow Herbert Goddard Baritone vocal solo composer, lyricist  
Victor A-1463 7-in. 6/9/1904 Resurrection Herbert Goddard Baritone vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-1463 10-in. 6/9/1904 Resurrection Herbert Goddard Baritone vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-3943 10-in. 10/30/1906 God is love Lyric Quartet Mixed vocal quartet, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-4194 12-in. 1/22/1907 Resurrection Elise Stevenson Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-5059 12-in. 2/5/1908 Saviour, when night involves the skies Trinity Choir Mixed vocal quartet, with orchestra composer, lyricist  
Victor C-8896 12-in. 4/26/1910 Love's sorrow George Hamlin Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer, lyricist  
Victor B-9851 10-in. 1/25/1911 Love's sorrow Reinald Werrenrath Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer, lyricist  
Victor C-11171 12-in. 11/2/1911 Love's sorrow Florence Hinkle Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-13069 12-in. 4/2/1913 Love's sorrow Marcella Sembrich Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer, lyricist  
Victor B-13607 10-in. 7/18/1913 Dreaming Miss Babcock ; Harriette Keyes ; Allie Thomas Female vocal trio, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-15053 12-in. 7/10/1914 Love's sorrow Florence Hinkle Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer, lyricist  
Victor B-19307 10-in. 2/21/1917 The resurrection Albert Wiederhold Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-24600 12-in. 9/23/1920 Saviour, when night involves the skies Trinity Choir [i.e., Victor Light Opera Company] Vocal chorus composer, lyricist  
Victor B-25545 10-in. 9/1/1921 De coppah moon Criterion Quartet Male vocal quartet, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-26138 12-in. 2/28/1922 Love's sorrow Hulda Lashanska Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra and harp composer, lyricist  
Victor B-26138 10-in. 8/24/1922 Love's sorrow Hulda Lashanska Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer, lyricist  
Victor B-26871 10-in. 9/11/1922 De coppah moon Criterion Quartet Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied composer  
Victor B-29420 10-in. 1/25/1924 Love's sorrow Olive Kline Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer, lyricist  
Victor B-29875 10-in. 4/11/1924 Love's sorrow Rosa Ponselle Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-34774 12-in. 4/13/1926 The King of love my shepherd is Mixed Quartet Mixed vocal quartet, with pipe organ composer  
Victor CVE-50617 12-in. 2/21/1929 The King of love my shepherd is Trinity Choir Mixed vocal chorus and soloists, with pipe organ composer  
(Results 1-25 of 46 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Shelley, Harry Rowe," accessed March 28, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105918.

Shelley, Harry Rowe. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105918.

"Shelley, Harry Rowe." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 28 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105918

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