Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Powell, Thomas (1766-1842?)
POWELL, THOMAS (1766–1842?), musician, was born in London in 1766. He studied composition and the violoncello, and in 1799 was elected a professional member of the Royal Society of Musicians. In 1811 he married, and settled for a time in Dublin as a teacher of music, afterwards migrating to Edinburgh, and eventually to London (1826), where he died between 1842 and 1845.
Powell was said to be a skilled artist on several musical instruments, and possessed a bass voice of exceptional compass. His compositions are numerous, and include arrangements of popular and classical airs for pianoforte, violin, and harp, as well as for the violoncello. A long list of his published and unpublished works is given in the ‘Dictionary of Musicians,’ 1827. The following pieces, among others, are in the library of the British Museum: 1. ‘Introduction and Fugue for the Organ as performed at the Cathedrals of Christchurch and St. Patrick at Dublin,’ 1825. 2. ‘Three Grand Sonatas for pianoforte, with obbligato accompaniment for violoncello,’ op. 15, about 1825.
[Dict. of Musicians, 1827, ii. 305; Georgian Era, iv. 546; Reports of the Royal Soc. of Musicians, passim.]