William Child (160623 March 1697) was an English composer and organist.
Early life
Born in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, Child was a chorister in the cathedral under the direction of
Elway Bevin. In 1630 he began his lifetime association with
St. George's Chapel,
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original c ...
, becoming first a
lay-clerk and, from 1632, Master of the Choristers there until the dissolution of the chapel in 1643. After the
Restoration of
Charles II in 1660, Child was re-appointed to St. George's, became Master of the King's Wind Music and a Gentleman of the
Chapel Royal.
Works
His output of
church music
Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn.
History
Early Christian music
The on ...
is understandably considerable, including a set of
psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
(1639), many
anthems and 17
service settings. He was often influenced by the Italian 'tastes' of his time, but also wrote
anthems in more conventional English forms.
Little
secular music of Child survives, namely, a number of
catches and instrumental pieces.
Sources
*''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians,'' Centennial Edition. Nicolas Slonimsky, Editor Emeritus. Schirmer, 2001.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Child, William
1606 births
1697 deaths
English Baroque composers
Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal
Musicians from Bristol
17th-century classical composers
English male classical composers
17th-century male musicians