William Croft
.jpg)
William Croft (* 1678; baptized December 30, 1678 on the Nether Ettington estate in Warwickshire , † August 14, 1727 in Bath ) was an English organist and composer of the Baroque period .
Live and act
He received his musical instruction at the Chapel Royal a . a. as a choirboy . One of his teachers at this facility was John Blow . In 1698 he finished his training there.
In 1700 he got a job at St. Anne's Church in Soho , London . In 1707 he took over the post of music teacher at Chapel Royal, and the following year, succeeding his former teacher John Blow, he took the post of organist at Westminster Abbey .
As a composer, he made a name for himself primarily with his sonatas for violin , for recorders , suites for harpsichord and his main work, the Musica Sacra , a collection of pieces of church music . Along with Henry Purcell, he is considered to be the composer of the 17th century who played a key role in shaping and shaping the development of church music of his time. He paid particular attention to the composition of polyphonic church music.
William Croft continued to compose commissioned works for official ceremonies, for example for the funeral of Queen Anne in 1714 and for the coronation ceremony for George I a year later.
He died during a spa stay in Bath in 1727.
Web links
- Works by and about William Croft in the catalog of the German National Library
- Free scores of William Croft in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)
- Sheet music and audio files by William Croft in the International Music Score Library Project
- Works by William Croft on the Mutopia project
- Short biography at hymntime.com (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Croft, William |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English organist and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | baptized December 30, 1678 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Warwickshire |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 14, 1727 |
| Place of death | Bath |