Power, William

Dates Active in Dublin: 

1797–1831

Address(es): 

36 Tighe Street, 1797–? [as James & William Power]
4 Westmoreland Street, 1802–31

Details: 

In partnership with his brother James from 1797 to 1807, in which year James moved to London where he was a military instrument maker, music seller and publisher.

William Power continued the business, initially (until 1810) under the name Power & Co. (a name which had been in use since 1803) at 4 Westmoreland Street and then under his own name until 1831.

William Power invited Thomas Moore to cooperate in a projected edition of Irish airs. The first volume Selection of Irish melodies, with symphonies and accompaniments by Sir John Stevenson, Mus. Doc., and characteristic words by Thomas Moore Esq. was published c. 1807/1808. There followed nine additional issues and a supplement, containing a total of 124 airs. As a result of disagreement between William and James, the later numbers were issued by the latter’s firm in London with arrangements by Henry Bishop (Boydell, 'Music, 1700–1850'). An insert into the third edition of Thomas Moore's Lalla Rookh in 1817 stated: 'The Publishers [Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown (Paternoster-Row, London)] beg to inform the Composers of Music and Music Sellers, that Mr. James Power, of the Strand, Music Seller, is the only person authorised by them to publish the Songs or Verses in this Work connected with Music'.

William Power was a subscriber to the Melodia Sacra in 1814.

Succeeded in business by Marcus Moses in 1831.

[Dates and addresses differ according to sources: Teahan gives the date of 1810 only. Humphries & Smith and Hogan give the dates as c. 1802 to 1831 at 4 Westmoreland Street. Waterhouse gives the dates as 1807 to 1831 at 4 Westmoreland Street.]

Select Product/Work List: 

Produced (as listed in Waterhouse)

  • Bass-horn: [Glen collection]
  • Bass-horn (supplied to the Royal Artillery), 1803
  • Published

  • A Selection of Irish Melodies with Symphonies and Accompaniments by Sir John Stevenson and characteristic words by Thomas Moore, IV, 1811 [1st edn] (Hunt)
  • A Selection of Irish Melodies with Symphonies and Accompaniments by Sir John Stevenson, Mus. Doc. and characteristic words by Thomas Moore Esr., 7th Number, 1818: Queen's University Belfast (Crean)
  • A Selection of Irish Melodies with Symphonies & Accompaniments by Sir John Stevenson, Mus.Doc. and characteristic words by Thomas Moore Esqr., 7th Number (London: Published by J. Power at his Music and Musical Instrument Warehouse, 34 Strand; and by W. Power, 4 Westmoreland-Street, Dublin), 1818: Queen's University Belfast (Crean)
  • The Nightingale, a favorite military air arranged as a rondo for the piano forte, with an accompaniment for the flute or flageolet, by John Parry. Performed with the greatest applause at the Bath Concerts, by the celebrated Miss Randles & the author, printed by J. Power, 34 Strand, & W. Power, 4 Westmoreland, Street [c. 1810–20] (Boydell, 'Flageolet')
  • The Thrush, a rondo for the piano forte, with an accompaniment for the flute or flageolet, composed by John Parry. Teacher of the single and double flageolets. No. 2 ... Published by J. Power, 34, Strand & W. Power, 4 Westmoreland Street Dublin [...] [c. 1810–20] (Boydell, 'Flageolet')
  • The Compleat Tutor for the English or French Flageolet Containing every instruction relative to those instruments, where are elucidated in the most clear & simple manner by which anyone may learn to play with taste and judgment in a short time. To which is added a selection of the most approved airs, songs, duets, etc. etc. ... Dublin. Published at W. Power's (4) Westmoreland St. & at J. Power's (34) Strand London [c. 1810–20] (Boydell, 'Flageolet')
  • Power's Musical Cabinet for the German Flute, Flageolet or Violin, c. 1812–15 [several volumes]
  • Source(s): 

    Dublin Directories

    Teahan, John, 'A List of Irish Instrument Makers', The Galpin Society Journal, 16 (May 1963), 28–32 (p. 31)

    Hogan, Ita Margaret, Anglo-Irish Music 1780–1830 (Cork: Cork University Press, 1966), p. 103

    Warner, Thomas E., An Annotated Bibliography of Woodwind Instruction Books, 1600–1830 (Detroit: Information Co-ordinators Inc., 1967), p. 68

    Boydell, Brian, 'Music, 1700–1850', in Eighteenth-Century Ireland 1691–1800, ed. by T.W. Moody and W.E. Vaughan, A New History of Ireland, IV (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), pp. 568–627 (p. 605)

    Waterhouse, William, The New Langwill Index: a Dictionary of Musical Wind-Instrument Makers and Inventors (London: Tony Bingham, 1993), p. 310

    Boydell, Barra, 'The Flageolet in Ireland: Aspects of the Repertoire, the Instrument and its Makers', in Musicology in Ireland, ed. by Gerard Gillen and Harry White, Irish Musical Studies, I (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1990), pp. 151–168 (p. 158)

    Crean, Elise, 'Student Study: Volume 7. Moore Collection Cataloguing Project' (unpublished MA project, Queen's University Belfast, 2004), pp. 5-6

    Hunt, Una, 'The Harpers' Legacy: Irish National Airs and Pianoforte Composers', Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland, 6 (2010–11), 3–53 (p. 5)

    McHale, Maria, 'Music', in The Irish Book in English 1800–1891, ed. by James H. Murphy, The Oxford History of the Irish Book, IV (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 595–601 (p. 600)

    Boydell, Brian, ‘Moses, Marcus’, Dublin Music Trade Card Index <http://dublinmusictrade.ie/card-index>

    Boydell, Brian, ‘Power, James & William’, Dublin Music Trade Card Index <http://dublinmusictrade.ie/card-index>

    Last Update: 16-03-2017