Webb be­gan his ca­reer as an or­gan­ist in Fal­mouth, Eng­land. In 1830, he em­i­grat­ed to Bos­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts, where he played the or­gan at the Old South Church for al­most 40 years. He al­so played the or­gan and be­longed to the Bos­ton Church of the New Je­ru­sa­lem. He and Low­ell Ma­son found­ed the Bos­ton Acad­e­my of Mu­sic, as well as col­lab­o­rat­ing on their Mu­sic­al Lib­ra­ry. Webb al­so com­posed sev­er­al chor­al and or­gan works, in­clud­ing “Prel­ude in Eb” and “Post­lude in A.”

Webb’s best known tune, “Webb,” came from a sec­u­lar song he wrote, called “’Tis Dawn, the Lark is Sing­ing”; this song was per­formed at a mus­ic­al show on a ship cross­ing the At­lan­tic Ocean.

Sources

Music

1. Webb