Hawes, William
Hawes, William
Hawes, William, English violinist, conductor, and composer; b. London, June 21, 1785; d. there, Feb. 18, 1846. He was a chorister in the Chapel Royal (1795–1801). From 1802 to 1805 he played violin in the orch. at London’s Covent Garden; he also became a deputy lay vicar at Westminster Abbey in 1803. In 1805 he was made a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, serving as its master of the children from 1817; he also was master of the choristers at St. Paul’s Cathedral from 1812. From 1824to 1836 he served as music director of the English Opera House (Lyceum) in London, where he introduced Weber’s Der Freischütz to the English public in 1824, to which he added some airs of his own. He adapted many operas for the English stage. His own works included light operas, glees, madrigals, and sacred pieces.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire