Introduction

Biography

William was the son of a la­bor­er. The par­ish re­gis­ter gives his name as Tan­zer.

Around 30 years of age he made Ew­ell, near Ep­som, his home, pub­lish­ing his Me­lo­dy of the Heart there.

He taught psalm­o­dy in a num­ber of plac­es, in­clud­ing Barnes, Cam­bridge, Stam­ford, Bos­ton (Eng­land) and Lei­cester.

He sub­se­quent­ly set­tled down and be­came a book­sell­er at St. Ne­ots.

Tans’ur wrote some 100 psalm and hymn tunes, an­thems, a Te De­um, and oth­er ma­ter­i­al.

Works

• A Com­pleat Me­lo­dy: or, The Har­mo­ny of Si­on, 1734
• The Me­lo­dy of the Heart, 1735
• Heaven on Earth, or the Beau­ty of Ho­li­ness, 1738
• Sacred Mirth, or the Pi­ous Soul’s Dai­ly De­light, 1739
• Poetical Me­di­ta­tions, 1740
• The Un­i­vers­al Har­mo­ny, con­tain­ing the Whole Book of Psalms, 1743
• The Roy­al Me­lo­dy Com­pleat, 1754
• The Psalm Sing­er’s Jew­el, or Use­ful Com­pan­ion to the Book of Psalms, 1760
• Melodia Sac­ra, or the De­vout Psal­mist’s Mu­sic­al Com­pan­ion, 1771
• The El­e­ments of Mu­sic Dis­played, 1772

Tans’ur’s Bangor was a po­pu­lar tune in Scot­land for ma­ny years, and is men­tioned in Ro­bert Burns’ po­em The Or­di­na­tion:

Mak haste an’ turn King David owre,
An lilt wi’ holy clangor;
O’ double verse come gie us four,
An’ skirl up the Bangor.