Thomas Ebdon (1738–1811) was a British
composer and organist born in
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
. He was a
chorister
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
at
Durham Cathedral and was a pupil of
James Heseltine, the organist there. He succeeded Heseltine in the office, aged 35, after some wrangling between the Chapter and Dean. He died in office. He is most famous for the evening part of his Service in C, and his setting of the Preces and Responses.
Ebdon was for many years a freemason at the ''Granby'' lodge in Durham, as well as being a senior member of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Durham, established in 1788. A march by Ebdon, for wind and brass (published by Dale of London in 1792), was composed for the installation in 1788 of
William Lambton
Lieutenant-Colonel William Lambton, FRS (c. 1753 – 20 or 26 January 1823) was a British soldier, surveyor, and geographer who began a triangulation survey in 1800-1802 that was later called the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. His init ...
(1764–97) as the first Provincial Grand Master of Durham.
[See 'Harmony and brotherly love: musicians and Freemasonry in 18th-century Durham City' by Simon Fleming in ''The Musical Times'', 2008 (Autumn), 69–80]
References
*Bumpus, T. Francis (1905–06) The Cathedrals of England and Wales. 3 vols. London: T. Werner Laurie
*Wollenberg, Susan; McVeigh, Simon (eds.) (2004) Concert Life in Eighteenth-century Britain. Aldershot: Ashgate
*
External links
*
English composers
1738 births
1811 deaths
People from Durham, England
Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England
{{England-musician-stub