- John Christopher Smith
John Christopher Smith [Johann Christoph Schmidt] (1712 - 1795) was an English composer, born in
Ansbach . He was the son of Johann Christoph Schmidt (John Christopher Smith) (d 1763), Handel's principal copyist and later his amanuensis. He had a few lessons from Handel andPepusch but studied mostly withThomas Roseingrave . His first opera was the Italian-style "Ulysses" (1733); later ones included two written forDavid Garrick and based onShakespeare - "The Fairies" (1755), after "A Midsummer Night's Dream ", and "The Tempest " (1756) - and a successful afterpiece, "The Enchanter" (1760). Several others remained unperformed. In 1759-68 he directed the annual performances of Messiah at theFoundling Hospital , where he was organist. Of his own oratorios, mostly written in the 1760s, "Paradise Lost " (1760) was the greatest success; three later ones (Nabal, Rebecca and Gideon) were largely adaptations ofGeorge Frideric Handel . Among his other works are five volumes of harpsichord music (1732-63) and a funeral service (1772) for the dowager Princess of Wales, who was his harpsichord pupil. He retired to Bath in the 1770s.ee also
External links
*IMSLP|id=Smith, John Christopher|cname=John Christopher Smith
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.