William Dayas
Illustration — William Dayas during his phase in Helsinki, 1893. William Humphreys Dayas (12 September 1863, New York – 3 May 1903, Manchester) was an American pianist, pedagogue and composer, one of the last pupils of Franz Liszt. He took church organist appointments and piano pupils as a teen to earn a living, while also studying piano with S. Mills and Rafael Joseffy and organ with Samuel P. In 1881 he moved to Berlin to pursue musical education, studying with Franz Kullak, Ehrlich, and Haupt.
Also recorded as William Humphreys Dayas
William Dayas
Alexander Konstantin Saxelin · http: index=0 size=original format=tif Image record page in Finna: museovirasto.5852C163F21282DB01CA23FE72B17F29 · CC BY 4.0
- Died
- 1903 · Manchester.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- composer · pianist · pedagogue · music teacher · organist
- Teachers
- Franz Liszt
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for William Dayas. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q16169825 · wikipedia · William Dayas
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
The documentary record
Statements marked “Documentary record” are set in the article beside the passage they confirm. Each is read from the authority records of the institutions named here; select “Prove” to see the record it was read from, where in that record, and when.
Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Personal life
Personal life
He then travelled to Weimar, where he was among many in Liszt's circle in the 1880s. From 1890 to 1893 he succeeded Busoni as professor of piano at the Helsinki conservatory. He subsequently taught in Wiesbaden and, at Franz Wüllner's invitation, to the Cologne Conservatorium (where he was succeeded by Rudolph Niemann). From 1896 until his death he taught at Royal Manchester College of Music, succeeding Charles Hallé, and succeeded by Arthur Friedheim. Dayas concertized frequently, including with Adolph Brodsky, Wilma Neruda, and piano four-hands with Busoni. Busoni's arrangement of Bach's prelude and fugue for organ BWV 552 is dedicated to Dayas. The Royal Northern College of Music awards a Dayas Prize for Composition.
William Dayas was married to Margaret (Margarethe) Vocke, a fellow pupil of Liszt, in 1891. Their daughter Karin Dayas, a noted pianist and pedagogue, was born in Helsinki in 1892.
Documentary record
William Dayas (died 3 May 1903) is described as a composer, organist, music teacher and pianist in the authority records of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. The death of William Dayas is recorded on 3 May 1903. For the birthplace of William Dayas, New York (État de New York, États-Unis) is recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and New York by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. For the place of death of William Dayas, Manchester (Grande-Bretagne) is recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and Manchester, England by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
New York City.
Birth place
Manchester.
Death place
Selected compositions
• two early organ sonatas, written in America • a string quartet, premiered by the Halir Quartet in Wiesbaden • sonata for violin and piano • sonata for cello and piano, dedicated to Carl Fuchs • waltzes for piano four-hands • a suite for strings • some songs • miscellaneous other minor works for piano and organ
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article William Dayas, revision 1360746763 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
44,023 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- William CusinsPerson
- William DamagedPerson
- William DamonPerson
- William DanielsPerson
- William DongoisPerson
- William Edward HaeschePerson
- William Edward MartinPerson
- William FinnPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by William Dayas?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.