Richard Browne (died May 1710) was an English

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 ...

and organist. He is not to be confused with two other English composers of the same name,

Richard Browne (fl 1614–1629) Richard Browne (fl 1614–1629) was an English composer and organist. He is known for his anthems; five of which survive: ''Christ rising again''; ''If the Lord himself''; ''I have declared''; ''My God, my God, look upon me''; and ''O Lord, rebuke ...

and Richard Browne (c.1630–1664).

Life and career

The earliest potential record of Richard Browne is as a violinist in the court of

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

between 1670 and 1674. However, scholars speculate that this may be a different man. The definitive record is in 1686 when Browne became organist of St Lawrence Jewry; a position he held until his death in May 1710. He concurrently served as the music master at Christ's Hospital, a boys school in Horsham, West Sussex, from March 1688 until his dismissal from that post in 1697 due to his use of bad language to the children. He also worked as organist at Saint Mary at Lambeth from 1701 until his death. As a composer, Browne is best known for his songs and

catches Catch may refer to: In sports * Catch (game), children's game * Catch (baseball), a maneuver in baseball * Catch (cricket), a mode of dismissal in cricket * Catch or reception (gridiron football) * Catch, part of a rowing stroke In music * Cat ...

; often utilizing his own lyrics. His more well known catches were mostly written for three voices; including ''Come, boy, light a faggot'' (The Drawer’s Catch), ''Peter White that never goes right'' (A Catch on a Man with a Wry Nose), ''I, Thomas of Bedford'' (The Bedford Catch), ''The duke sounds to horse boys'' (A Catch on the Duke of Marlborough’s Victory over the French) and ''Ah sorry poor Frenchman'' (A Catch on the Modern Courage and Conduct of the French). Also popular, was ''War begets poverty'' (The Almanack Catch), for four voices. Most of his catches and songs have been published in song collections; including works in Henry Playford's ''Vinculum societatis'' (1687) and ''The Second Book of the Pleasant Musical Companion'' (1701) among other 17th and 18th century anthologies. For the choir at Christ’s Hospital he composed eight innovative Easter Psalms using contemporary verse anthems. In 1707 he composed the elegy ''Weep all ye Swains'' in honor of Jeremiah Clarke. Richard Browne was buried on May 21, 1710.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Richard 1710 deaths 17th-century English composers 18th-century English composers English Baroque composers English organists