Nathaniel Giles (1558 – 1633 or 1634) was an English Renaissance organist and composer. He was the organist for

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified ...

and wrote Anglican anthems. While

Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal The Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal was the choirmaster of the Chapel Royal of England. They were responsible for the musical direction of the choir, which consisted of the Gentlemen of the Chapel and Children of the Chapel. In some per ...

he took over

Blackfriars Theatre Blackfriars Theatre was the name given to two separate theatres located in the former Blackfriars Dominican priory in the City of London during the Renaissance. The first theatre began as a venue for the Children of the Chapel Royal, child acto ...

in a business arrangement with producer Henry Evans and there he worked with

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

on a children's company. Giles had the power under a royal warrant to impress children for service in the Chapel Royal. He allowed Evans and others to use the warrant to legally abduct children not for service as choir boys, but to work in their theatre. When in 1600 they abducted the son of a nobleman, this led to the Clifton Star Chamber Case. He was also a master of the

Choir of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle The Choir of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle exists to sing services in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. It has been in existence since 1348 and, with the exception of the Commonwealth period (1649–1660), has sung services in the ...

and an organist at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. His ''Te Deum'' (Durham Cathedral manuscript A2, folio 56) has instructions for the organist to play an octave lower than written, and one assumes this is to give the 'dark' sonority of a 10 ft organ stop rather than the everyday colour of the standard 5 ft Principal stop of the Tudor organ. His ''Vestigia mea dirige'' was included in the manuscript collection known as the

Dow Partbooks The Dow Partbooks (Christ Church, Mus. MSS 984–988) are a collection of five partbooks compiled by Robert Dow in Oxford around 1581–88. The collection includes mostly choral but also some instrumental pieces. At the end is an instrumental ''L ...

. His son,

Nathaniel Giles Nathaniel Giles (1558 – 1633 or 1634) was an English Renaissance organist and composer. He was the organist for Worcester Cathedral and wrote Anglican anthems. While Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal he took over Blackfriars Theatre in ...

became a Canon of Windsor.

References

English classical composers English Baroque composers Renaissance composers English organists British male organists 1558 births 1630s deaths 16th-century English composers 17th-century English composers 17th-century classical composers English male classical composers Masters of the Children of the Chapel Royal 17th-century male musicians {{UK-composer-stub