Fairlamb, James Remington

views updated

Fairlamb, James Remington

Fairlamb, James Remington, American organist and composer; b. Philadelphia, Jan. 23, 1838; d. Ingleside, N.Y., April 16, 1908. As a youth he played the organ in several Philadelphia churches. In 1858 he went to Paris, where he studied with Marmontel. While in Europe, he was appointed by President Lincoln as American Consul at Zurich (1861), where he stayed until 1865, when he returned to the U.S. He organized an amateur opera company with which he brought out his 4-act grand opera Valerie, or Treasured Tokens (Philadelphia, Dec. 15, 1869). From 1872 to 1898 he was church organist in Philadelphia, Jersey City, and N.Y. He wrote another grand opera, Lionello, and 2 light operas: Love’s Stratagem and The Interrupted Marriage; some 50 of his choral works and nearly 150 songs and organ pieces were publ. He was one of the founders of the American Guild of Organists.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

More From encyclopedia.com

About this article

Fairlamb, James Remington

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article

You Might Also Like

    NEARBY TERMS

    Fairlamb, James Remington