Tans’ur (real name, Tanzer), William
Tans’ur (real name, Tanzer), William
Tans’ur, (real name, Tänzer), William, English organist, composer, and writer on music; b. Dun-church, 1700 (baptized, Nov. 6, 1706); d. St. Neots, Oct. 7, 1783. He was a church organist and taught music in various provincial towns in England.
Works and writings
(all publ, in London unless otherwise given): The Compleat Melody: or, The Harmony of Sion (1734); Heaven on Earth, or the Beauty of Holiness (1738); Sacred Mirth, or the Pious Soul’s Daily Delight (1739); A New Musical Grammar: or, The Harmonica! Spectator, with Philosophical Demonstrations on the Nature of Sound (1746; various subsequent eds.); The Royal Psalmodist: or, the New Universal Harmony (1748); The Royal Melody Compleat: or, the New Harmony of Sion (1754-55; 3rded., 3 parts, 1764-66; later ed. as The American Harmony, Newburyport, 1771); The Psalm-Singer’s Jewell: or, Useful Companionpanion to the Singing-psalms (1760); The Life of Holy David (Cambridge, 1770); Melodia sacra: or, The Devout Psalmist’s New Musical Companion (3rd ed., 1772); The Beauties of Poetry (Cambridge, 1776).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire