Nicholas Staggins (died 13 June 1700) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Staggins first studied music under his father. He was made

Master of the King's Music Master of the King's Music (or Master of the Queen's Music, or earlier Master of the King's Musick) is a post in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. The holder of the post originally served the monarch of England, directing the court orche ...

by Charles II in 1674. In 1682, he was granted a musical doctorate by

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, and from 1684 until his death was Professor of Music at Cambridge. Following his death on the night of 12–13 June 1700, he was succeeded by John Eccles. From the few fragments of his compositions that survive, his musical ability is generally regarded to have been slender. His most significant work was his music for

John Crowne John Crowne (6 April 1641 – 1712) was a British dramatist. His father "Colonel" William Crowne, accompanied the earl of Arundel on a diplomatic mission to Vienna in 1637, and wrote an account of his journey. He emigrated to Nova Scotia where h ...

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masque ...

''Calisto, or The Chaste Nymph''. His other works include

ode An ode (from grc, ᾠδή, ōdḗ) is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three majo ...

s for the birthdays of William III (in at least 1693, 1694 and 1696). He also wrote

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

for

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

's ''Conquest of Granada'' and ''Marriage à la Mode'',

George Etheridge Sir George Etherege (c. 1636, Maidenhead, Berkshire – c. 10 May 1692, Paris) was an English dramatist. He wrote the plays '' The Comical Revenge or, Love in a Tub'' in 1664, ''She Would If She Could'' in 1668, and '' The Man of Mode or ...

's ''The Man of Mode'', Nathaniel Lee's ''Gloriana'', and

Thomas Shadwell Thomas Shadwell ( – 19 November 1692) was an English poet and playwright who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1689. Life Shadwell was born at either Bromehill Farm, Weeting-with-Broomhill or Santon House, Lynford, Norfolk, and educated at Bury ...

's ''

Epsom Wells ''Epsom Wells'' is a 1672 restoration comedy by the English writer Thomas Shadwell. It was the first in a line of plays set in spa towns. The incidental music was composed by Nicholas Staggins. In the 1690s Henry Purcell scored a new staging of ...

''. In Tom Brown's ''Letters from the Dead to the Living'', Staggins is described as "bandy legged and contemptuously regarded". Following his death he was buried in Woollon on 16 June 1700 at St. George's Chapel, Windsor.

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Song from ''Marriage à la Mode''
17th-century births Year of birth missing 1700 deaths English Baroque composers English classical composers Masters of the King's Music Alumni of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Cambridge 17th-century classical composers 17th-century English composers English male classical composers 17th-century male musicians {{UK-composer-stub