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
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William Dayas (morte: 3 maggio 1903) figura come compositore, organista, insegnante di musica e pianista negli archivi di autorità della Bibliothèque nationale de France e della Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Vita
La morte di William Dayas è registrata il 3 maggio 1903. Per il luogo di nascita di William Dayas, New York (État de New York, États-Unis) è registrato dalla Bibliothèque nationale de France e New York dalla Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Per il luogo di morte di William Dayas, Manchester (Grande-Bretagne) è registrato dalla Bibliothèque nationale de France e Manchester, England dalla Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Istituzioni citate
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
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wikidata · Q16169825 · wikipedia · William Dayas
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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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