Moorhead, John

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Moorhead, John

Moorhead, John, Irish violinist and composer; b. in Ireland, c. 1760; d. (suicide) near Deal, March 1804. After studying music in Ireland, he became a theater musician in England. In 1798 he joined the orch. at London’s Covent Garden, but became insane and had to be committed in 1802. After his release, he became a navy bandmaster. Then, following a relapse in 1804, he took his own life. He wrote 14 stage works, including the comic operas II Bondocani, or The Caliph Robber (Covent Garden, Nov. 15, 1800; in collaboration with Attwood), The Cabinet (Covent Garden, Feb. 9, 1802; in collaboration with Braham, Corri, Davy, and Reeve), and Family Quarrels (Covent Garden, Dec. 18, 1802; in collaboration with Braham and Reeve).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire