John Randall (26 February 1716 – 18 March 1799) was an English organist and academic.

Life

John Randall was a chorister of the

Chapel Royal The Chapel Royal is an establishment in the Royal Household serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the British Royal Family. Historically it was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarch. The term is now also applie ...

under

Bernard Gates Bernard Gates (The Hague, 23 April 1686 - North Aston, 15 November 1773, aged 87) was an English composer, and a bass singer employed by Handel in his oratorios. He was director of the choir at Westminster Abbey from 1740 to 1757. Surviving musi ...

. On 23 February 1732 at Gates's house, Randall acted and sang the part of Esther in a dramatic representation of

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

's oratorio ''

Esther Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...

''. In 1744 he graduated Mus. Bac. at Cambridge. In the following year he was appointed organist to

King's College Chapel King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bui ...

. In 1755 Randall succeeded Maurice Greene as Professor of Music at Cambridge University. In 1756 he was awarded a Mus. Doc degree. Assisted by his pupil,

William Crotch William Crotch (5 July 177529 December 1847) was an English composer and organist. According to the American musicologist Nicholas Temperley, Crotchwas "a child prodigy without parallel in the history of music", and was certainly the most disti ...

, who joined him in 1786, Randall retained his appointments until his death at Cambridge on 18 March 1799. His wife Grace predeceased him on 27 April 1792. He is buried at

St Bene't's Church St Bene't's Church is a Church of England parish church in central Cambridge, England. Parts of the church, most notably the tower, are Anglo-Saxon, and it is the oldest church in Cambridgeshire as well as the oldest building in Cambridge. Th ...

, Cambridge, where there is a memorial with the following inscription

Works

Randall set to music

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classics, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his ''Elegy Written in a Country ...

's ''Ode for the Installation of the Duke of Grafton as Chancellor of the University'', 1768. He published ''A Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, some of which are new and others by permission of the authors, with six Chants and Te Deums, calculated for the use of congregations in general'', Cambridge, 1794; these six were his original tunes. Randall is best known by his two

double chant A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ' ...

s (Grove). ''The Hopeless Lover'' (London, 1735?), and other songs were attributed to him. In the American

Sacred Harp Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that originated in New England and was later perpetuated and carried on in the American South. The name is derived from ''The Sacred Harp'', a ubiquitous and historically important tune ...

tradition

William Cowper William Cowper ( ; 26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scen ...

's hymn ''The Contrite Heart'' is sung to Randall's tune ''Cambridge New''.

References

Attribution

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randall, John 1716 births 1799 deaths English organists British male organists Professors of Music (Cambridge) 18th-century keyboardists