William Dayas
William Humphreys Dayas (12 September 1863,[1] New York – 3 May 1903, Manchester) was an American pianist, pedagogue and composer, one of the last pupils of Franz Liszt.
Dayas lost his parents at an early age. He took church organist appointments and piano pupils as a teen to earn a living, while also studying piano with S. B. Mills and Rafael Joseffy and organ with Samuel P. Warren. In 1881 he moved to Berlin to pursue musical education, studying with Franz Kullak, Ehrlich, and Haupt. He then travelled to Weimar, where he was among many in Liszt's circle in the 1880s.[2]
From 1890 to 1893 he succeeded Busoni as professor of piano at the Helsinki conservatory. He subsequently taught in Wiesbaden and, at Franz Wüllner's invitation, to the Cologne Conservatorium (where he was succeeded by Rudolph Niemann[3]). From 1896 until his death he taught at Royal Manchester College of Music, succeeding Charles Hallé, and succeeded by Arthur Friedheim.[2]
Dayas concertized frequently, including with Adolph Brodsky, Wilma Neruda, and piano four-hands with Busoni. Upon his death, The Musical Times published remembrances by Busoni and Wilma Neruda, remarking on his fierce individuality and his pedagogical gifts. Busoni's arrangement of Bach's prelude and fugue for organ BWV 552 is dedicated to Dayas.[4] The Royal Northern College of Music awards a Dayas Prize for Composition.
Personal life
[edit]William Dayas was married to Margaret (Margarethe) Vocke, a fellow pupil of Liszt, in 1891.[5] Their daughter Karin Dayas, a noted pianist and pedagogue, was born in Helsinki in 1892.
Selected compositions
[edit]- two early organ sonatas, written in America
- a string quartet, premiered by the Halir Quartet in Wiesbaden
- sonata for violin and piano
- sonata for cello and piano, dedicated to Carl Fuchs
- waltzes for piano four-hands
- a suite for strings
- some songs
- miscellaneous other minor works for piano and organ
Sources
[edit]- Johnstone, Arthur (1 August 1903). "The Late Mr. W. H. Dayas" (PDF). The Musical Times: 530–532.
- Otavan Iso Musiikkitietosanakirja (in Finnish). Vol. 2. Helsinki: Otava. 1977. p. 26. ISBN 951-1-04191-6.
Notes
[edit]- ^ Some sources state the birth year to be 1864. Also, Finnish sources spell the middle name consistently as "Humphrey".
- ^ a b "The Late Mr. W. H. Dayas". The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular. 44 (726): 530–532. 1903. ISSN 0958-8434.
- ^ "Music in Birmingham". The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular. 36 (632): 687–687. 1895. ISSN 0958-8434.
- ^ Sitsky, Larry (2023), "The Organ Transcriptions", The Compleat Busoni, Volume 1, Busoni and the piano: The works, the writings, and the recordings (2 ed.), ANU Press, pp. 300–313, ISBN 978-1-76046-593-3, retrieved 2025-06-27
- ^ William Humphrey Dayas fonds.
External links
[edit]
- 1863 births
- 1903 deaths
- 19th-century American classical composers
- 19th-century American classical pianists
- 19th-century American male musicians
- Academics of the Royal Northern College of Music
- American expatriates in England
- American male classical composers
- American male classical pianists
- Classical musicians from New York (state)
- Composers from New York City
- American piano educators
- Pupils of Franz Liszt
- American composer, 19th-century birth stubs