Simeon P. Cheney

Life

Born: 1818

Died: 1890

Biography

Simeon Pease Cheney was born in Meredith, New Hampshire, the son of Free Will Baptist pastor and musician Moses Cheney (1776–1853). After the family moved to Vermont, his brother Moses Ela and E. K. Prouty organized one of the first musical conventions in 1839. The Cheney siblings Nathaniel, Moses Ela, Joseph Young, Simeon, and Elizabeth Ela, formed the Cheney Family Singers that debuted in 1845 in New York City. After two years of touring, Simeon settled in Vermont. He was a farmer, but continued to teach singing schools and directed a church choir. In the 1870s he lived in California where his sons had settled. There he compiled the “American Singing Book” for use in singing schools and musical conventions. He spent his last years living in Franklin, Massachusetts. He wrote a series of articles on “Bird Music” that were published in “Century Magazine” and posthumously published as “Wood Notes Wild.” He died in Franklin.

View the Wikipedia article on Simeon P. Cheney.

List of choral works

• Song of the Miners
• The Spring is coming
• The summer days are over

 
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Publications

External websites:

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