Henry Loosemore ( – 7 July 1670) was an English organist and composer who served as organist of

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

from 1627 until his death.''Dictionary of National Biography 1885-1900'', Henry Loosemore
Accessed on 11 December 2021.

Life

Born in Devonshire, Loosemore was the son of the organ builder Samuel Loosemore. His brothers included John, also an organ builder, and

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, a fellow organist.''The Story of a Loosemore Family'', ch. 3, "Organists, composers and organ builders"
Accessed on 11 December 2021. Loosemore sang as a chorister at one of the

Cambridge colleges The University of Cambridge is composed of 31 Colleges within universities in the United Kingdom, colleges in addition to the academic departments and administration of the central University. Until the mid-19th century, both University of Cambri ...

and in 1627 was appointed organist at King's College. During the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

, when organ music was frowned upon by the

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

authorities, Loosemore became resident organist and teacher of music at

Kirtling Kirtling, together with Kirtling Green and Kirtling Towers, is a scattered settlement in the south-eastern edge of the English county of Cambridgeshire. It forms a civil parish with the nearby village of Upend to its north. The population of the ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, under the patronage of

Dudley North, 4th Baron North Dudley North, 4th Baron North, KB (160224 June 1677) of Kirtling Tower, Cambridgeshire was an English politician, who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1628 and 1660. Life North was the elder son of Dudley North, 3rd Baron ...

Works

Surviving works include Litanies in D minor and G minor and several

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

Life

Works

References

Further reading