Russell, William
1777-1813
English pianist, organist and composer; born in London; was the son of an organ-builder, and studied under various organists; was deputy organist of St. Mary's, Aldemanbury, from 1789 to 1793; then organist of the Chapel of Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, till 1798; in the latter year of St. Ann's Limehouse, and in 1801 of the Foundling Hospital. For three years previous to his appointment as pianist and composer to Sadler's Wells, 1800, he had been studying further under Dr. Arnold, and the following year he was engaged in a similar capacity at Covent Garden. He received the degree of Bachelor of Music from Oxford in 1808. His compositions include oratorios, Job; The Redemption of Israel; The Deliverance of Israel; also a four-part mass. Operas, Adrian and Orilla; False Friend; Wild Islanders; Wizard's Wake; and several other dramas; also pantomimes. Odes, On St. Cecilia's Day; To Music; To the Genius of Handel; To Harmony; glees; songs; services; anthems; organ voluntaries, etc. He edited a collection of psalms, hymns and anthems for the Foundling Hospital Chapel in 1809.