(c1747–c1832). English composer and inventor. He created seven plucked, fretted chordophones compounded from lute, lyre and harp structures. In 1798 he invented the harp-guitar, and later also invented a harp-lute-guitar. Between 1810 and 1813 he invented a harp-lute, which was patented in 1818, and at some time he invented an apollo lyre, with 12 strings. In 1815 a harp-lyre was advertised in the Caledonian Mercury, and in 1816 he patented a ‘British’ harp-lute and a dital harp. Extant examples of his work are sometimes labelled as being made for him by A. Barry (18 Frith Street, Soho) and Wheatstone & Co. The title-page of his undated Collection of Psalms &c. indicates that he was organist of Trinity Chapel, St George’s, Hanover Square, and ‘Lyrist to H.R.H. The Princess [Charlotte] of Wales’. His teaching activity required his presence in London, and instrument labels and title-pages show that at various times he lived at 16 Harley Street; 34 Queen Anne Street, Portland Chapel; 3 and 8 Foley Place; 43 Portland Place (where his partner Angelo Benedetto Ventura also lived) and 38 Berners Street.
He arranged, composed and published much of his own teaching material. Most of his published collections include parts for his inventions. These are mostly binary pieces or strophic works, simple in harmony and texture and of short duration, and reflect the short-term need for simple instruments and music as an alternative to the pedal harp and its music before the piano became widely available.
For an instrument by Light see Harp-lute (ii), fig.2b.
all published in London
|
Vocal: The Ladies’ Amusement, 1v, gui (1783); 6 English Songs, 1v, 1/2 vn, hpd, op.1 (c1800) [with 6 It. and Fr. songs] |
|
Ensemble music: A Collection of Songs and Instrumental Pieces, harp-lute, pf (c1805); A Collection of Songs, arr. harp-lute, lyre, gui (c1810); A Collection of Psalms, Hymns, etc, arr. harp-lute, lyre (?1814) |
|
Harp-lute solo: Preludes, Exercises and Recreations (c1810); National Airs, Songs, Waltzes, etc (c1810); Divertimentos, i (?1817) |
|
The Art of Playing the Guitar (London, ?1785) |
|
A First Book, or Master and Scholar’s Assistant, Being a Treatise on, and Instructor for, Learning Music (London, 1794) |
|
A Tutor, with a Tablature, for the Harp-Lute-Guitar (London, c1810) |
|
New and Compleat Instructions for Playing on the Harp-Lute (London, ?1812) |
|
A New and Complete Directory to the Art of Playing on the Patent British Lute-Harp (London, c1816) |
T. Busby: Concert Room and Orchestra Anecdotes, ii (London, 1825), 275–6
L. Fryklund: Förteckning över Edward Lights musikaliska verk (Hälsingborg, 1931)
S. Marcuse: Musical Instruments: a Comprehensive Dictionary (New York, 1966, 2/1975)
A. Baines: Non-keyboard Instruments, Victoria and Albert Museum Catalogue of Musical Instruments, ii (London, 1968)
STEPHEN BONNER