Benjamin Franklin Baker | |
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Born | Wenham, Massachusetts, U.S. | July 10, 1811
Died | March 11, 1889 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | (aged 77)
Occupation(s) | Composer, singer, educator, author |
Spouse | Sabra L. Heywood |
Benjamin Franklin Baker (July 10, 1811 – March 11, 1889) was an American educator and composer.
Benjamin Franklin Baker was born on July 10, 1811, in Wenham, Massachusetts, to John and Sally Baker.[1] When he was 14 years old, his family moved to Salem, Massachusetts, where he began his musical studies.[1]
In 1833 he began his professional music career while touring as a singer.[2] After this he moved to Bangor, Maine, for a time, making a living as a businessman, but moved to Boston in 1837.[3] With his cousin Isaac Baker Woodbury, he began a series of teacher's conventions.[4]
Beginning in 1839, he spent the next 24 years in Boston in the capacity of music conductor for various churches there.[1] Baker succeeded Lowell Mason as music teacher in the Boston Public School system in 1841.[5] That same year he married Sabra L. Heywood.[1] He became music director at the Federal Street Church in Boston, where he taught voice lessons.[6] During this time period, he continued performing, often as featured soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society.[2]
In 1851 he founded his own music school, where he directed the vocal classes and served as the principal.[5] The school prospered until he retired in 1868.[1][7] By the late 1850s he was traveling to other parts of the United States as a conductor.[8] Towards the end of his career in the 1870s, Baker was the editor of the Boston Music Journal.[1] He died on March 11, 1889, in Boston without having any children.[1]
Baker taught music lessons seeking to promote "effective harmony" and ease of execution when performing music, yet he tried to avoid music that was "commonplace or trivial".[6] His teaching as well as musical compositions focused mainly on vocal music, with an emphasis on sacred music and pedagogy.[1] His compositions were performed during his lifetime not only in the population centers surrounding Boston, but also in small communities wishing to showcase "ambitious" works.[9]
Gilbert Chase, commenting strictly on the music of The Burning Ship, stated it was of no "particular distinction". This cantata used a theme, common at the time for "genteel" presentations, of introducing mother and child to extreme peril and subsequently concluding with an obligatory happy ending using a plot of divine intervention.[9]
Baker published more than 25 collections of hymns, songs, and music theory books.[2] Among them:
Baker composed numerous anthems, hymns, and other various vocal works.[2] Of particular note are his cantatas.
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