The British Musical Biography

[E] Parke, William Thomas, writer, oboe
player, and composer, born at London in 1762.
He studied under Dance, Baumgarten, and
his brother, John. Chorister at Drury Lane
Theatre, 1775. Oboist at Vauxhall, 1776.
Principal oboist at Covent Garden, 1783.
Employed at principal concerts, Vauxhall,
etc., as oboist, after 1800. He died at London,
August 26, 1847.

[W] Works. — Overtures to " Netley Abbey,"'
1794 ; " Lock and Key," 1796. Concertos for
oboe. Three duetts for two German flutes
[1793] ; Second set, op. 8 [1794] . Tutor for
the hautboy : being a familiar introduction to
the art of playing this instrument. With
sixteen duets for two hautboys, n.d. Songs :
Blue bonnets; Cupid is a wanton boy; Donald
Macleod ; Lad of the moor ; Maid of the
village; Merry tambourine. He also adapted
Dalayrac's "Nina" for the English stage.
Musical Memoirs : comprising an account of
the general state of Music in England from
the first Cominemoration of Handel in 1784
to the year 1880, interspersed with numerous
anecdotes, musical, histrionic, etc., London,
2 vols., 1830.

[+] Parke is now best remembered by his useful
" Musical Memoirs," or annals of music from
1784 to 1830. It contains, among much
gossippy matter and anecdotes, a very con-
siderable proportion of historical and biograph-
ical data.

entry id: 308-R-21