William Henry Fry, Author at The Imaginative Conservative

About William Henry Fry

William Henry Fry (1813–1864) was a pioneering American composer, music critic, and journalist. Fry was the first person born in the United States to write for a large symphony orchestra, the first to compose a publicly-performed opera, and also the first music critic for a major American newspaper. His compositions include the Santa Claus Symphony, the Niagara Symphony, the MacBeth overture, and The Breaking Heart.

“Santa Claus Symphony”

By William Henry Fry|2022-12-24T10:28:35-06:00December 21st, 2017|Categories: Audio/Video, Christmas, Music|

American composer William Henry Fry wrote the highly enjoyable Santa Claus: Christmas Symphony in 1853, deeming it "the longest instrumental composition ever written on a single subject, with unbroken continuity." This claim, which is probably true, is quite surprising, as is the fact that the legend of Santa Claus was already ingrained in American culture [...]