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 ...

s who have made significant contributions to the repertory of Anglican church music.

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* Malcolm Archer * Thomas Armstrong * Thomas Attwood * Richard Ayleward

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* Edgar Bainton *

Edward Bairstow Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow (22 August 18741 May 1946) was an English organist and composer in the Anglican church music tradition. Life and career Bairstow was born in Trinity Street, Huddersfield in 1874. His grandfather Oates Bairstow was ...

* John Barnard *

Joseph Barnby Sir Joseph Barnby (12 August 183828 January 1896) was an English composer and conductor. Life Barnby was born at York, as a son of Thomas Barnby, who was an organist. Joseph was a chorister at York Minster from the age of seven, was educated ...

Adrian Batten Adrian Batten (c. 1591 – c. 1637) was an English organist and Anglican church composer. He was active during an important period of English church music, between the Reformation and the Civil War in the 1640s. During this period the litur ...

Jonathan Battishill Jonathan Battishill (May 1738 – 10 December 1801) was an English composer, keyboard player, and concert tenor. He began his career as a composer writing theatre music but later devoted himself to working as an organist and composer for the Chu ...

Lennox Berkeley Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley (12 May 190326 December 1989) was an English composer. Biography Berkeley was born on 12 May 1903 in Oxford, England, the younger child and only son of Aline Carla (1863–1935), daughter of Sir James Char ...

* William Thomas Best *

Elway Bevin Elway Bevin (c.1554-1638) was a Welsh-born organist and composer. Briefly a vicar choral at Wells Cathedral, in 1585 he was appointed Master of the Choristers at Bristol Cathedral. He was sworn a gentleman-extraordinary of the Chapel Royal on 3 J ...

Hugh Blair Hugh Blair FRSE (7 April 1718 – 27 December 1800) was a Scottish minister of religion, author and rhetorician, considered one of the first great theorists of written discourse. As a minister of the Church of Scotland, and occupant of the Ch ...

* John Blow *

William Boyce William Boyce may refer to: *William Boyce (composer) (1711–1779), English-born composer and Master of the King's Musick * William Binnington Boyce (1804–1889), English-born philologist and clergyman, active in Australia *William Waters Boyce ( ...

Harry Bramma Harry Wakefield Bramma (born 11 November 1936, Shipley, West Yorkshire) is a British organist and composer of Anglican church music. He served as director of the Royal School of Church Music from 1989 to 1998 and as director of music at All Sain ...

* David Briggs * Benjamin Britten * Albertus Bryne * William Byrd

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Anthony Caesar Anthony Douglass Caesar (3 April 1924 – 14 July 2018) was an English priest, organist and composer. Caesar was a boy chorister in the Winchester Cathedral Choir under Harold Rhodes, who directed choir rehearsals in the short street known as " ...

* Jeremiah Clarke *

Benjamin Cooke Benjamin Cooke (1734 – 14 September 1793) was an English composer, organist and teacher. Cooke was born in London and named after his father, also Benjamin Cooke (1695/1705 – 1743), a music publisher based in Covent Garden (active from 1 ...

* Henry Cooke * Robert Cooke * Joseph Corfe * William Croft * William Crotch

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Harold Darke Harold Edwin Darke (29 October 1888 – 28 November 1976) was an English composer and organist. He is particularly known for his choral compositions, which are an established part of the respertoire of Anglican church music. Darke had a fifty-y ...

John Albert Delany John Albert Delany (6 July 185211 May 1907), usually referred to as John A. Delany, was an organist and composer in Sydney, Australia, a champion of choral music. He has been called "Australia's greatest musician" and "The Australian Gounod". H ...

Richard Dering Richard Dering (''c.'' 1580–1630) — also Deering, Dearing, Diringus, etc. — was an English Renaissance composer during the era of late Tudor music. He is noted for his pioneering use of compositional techniques which anticipated the advent ...

* James Douglas *

Jonathan Dove Jonathan Dove (born 18 July 1959) is an English composer of opera, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera (now Birmin ...

Thomas Sanders Dupuis Thomas Sanders Dupuis, Mus. Doc. (1733–1796) was a composer and organist of French extraction, born in London. He succeeded William Boyce at the Chapel Royal, and was regarded as one of the best organists of his day. His published work inc ...

* George Dyson

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Richard Farrant Richard Farrant (c. 1525 – 30 November 1580) was an English composer, musical dramatist, theater founder, and Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal. The first acknowledgment of him is in a list of the Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal in ...

Gerald Finzi Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...

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* Henry Gadsby *

Bernard Gates Bernard Gates (The Hague, 23 April 1686 - North Aston, 15 November 1773, aged 87) was an English composer, and a bass singer employed by Handel in his oratorios. He was director of the choir at Westminster Abbey from 1740 to 1757. Surviving musi ...

* Orlando Gibbons * John Goss * Maurice Greene

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Peter Hallock Peter Rasmussen Hallock (November 19, 1924, Kent, Washington – April 27, 2014, Fall City, Washington) was an American organist, choirmaster, liturgist, countertenor, and composer and arranger of church music (anthems, hymns, psalm settings, and m ...

Calvin Hampton (George) Calvin Hampton (December 31, 1938 – August 5, 1984) was a leading American organist and sacred music composer. Hampton was born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania and raised in Ravenna, Ohio. He graduated from Oberlin Conservatory in 19 ...

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

* William H. Harris *

Basil Harwood Basil Harwood (11 April 1859 – 3 April 1949) was an organist and composer in the English church music tradition, best known today for his liturgical works, particularly his anthem ''O How Glorious is the Kingdom'' (1898) and his ''Service in ...

William Henry Havergal William Henry Havergal (18 January 1793 – 19 April 1870) was an Anglican clergyman, writer, composer and hymnwriter, and a publisher of sermons and pamphlets. He was the father of the hymn-writer and poet Frances Ridley Havergal and the cler ...

* Philip Hayes *

William Hayes William Hayes may refer to: In politics *William Hayes (Irish politician), Irish Sinn Féin politician *William Hayes (Canadian politician) (1879–1939), member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta * William P. Hayes (1866–1940), American la ...

Edward John Hopkins Dr. Edward John Hopkins FRCO (30 June 1818 - 4 February 1901) was an English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an ...

* Martin How * Herbert Howells * Pelham Humfrey *

Peter Hurford Peter John Hurford OBE (22 November 1930 – 3 March 2019) was a British organist and composer. Life Hurford was born in Minehead, Somerset, to Gladys Hurford (née James) and Hubert Hurford, a solicitor. He was educated at Blundell's School ...

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* John Ireland *

Grayston Ives Grayston ‘Bill’ Ives (born 1948) is a British composer, singer and choral director. Until March 2009, Ives was Organist, ''Informator Choristarum'' and Fellow and Tutor in Music at Magdalen College, Oxford. In this role he was responsible for ...

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Enderby Jackson John Enderby Jackson (14 January 1827 – 10 April 1903) was an English musician, composer, and the self-described founder of the British brass band competition and the cheap day railway excursion. After training in the family business of cand ...

* Francis Jackson * William Jackson of Exeter * William Jackson of Masham * Roger Jones * John Joubert

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James Kent James Kent may refer to: *James Kent (jurist) (1763–1847), American jurist and legal scholar * James Kent (composer) (1700–1776), English composer *James Kent, better known as Perturbator, French electronic/synthwave musician *James Tyler Kent ...

* Charles King *

Gerald Knight Gerald Hocken Knight (1908–1979) was a cathedral organist, who served at Canterbury Cathedral. Background Gerald Hocken Knight was born on 27 July 1908 in Par, Cornwall, the only son of Alwyne Knight of Par by his first wife Edith Harvey a ...

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Craig Sellar Lang Craig Sellar Lang (13 May 1891 – 24 Nov 1971) was a New Zealand-born British organist, composer and music teacher. Education Born in Hastings, New Zealand, CS Lang (known to his friends as "Robin") was educated at Clifton College, and was ...

* Kenneth Leighton

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John Merbecke John Marbeck, Merbeck or Merbecke () was an English choral composer and theological writer whose musical setting of the early Anglican liturgy standardised the sung Anglican service until the late 20th century. He is also known today for his s ...

* George William Martin *

William Mathias William James Mathias CBE (1 November 1934 – 29 July 1992) was a Welsh composer noted for choral works. Biography Mathias was born in Whitland, Carmarthenshire. A child prodigy, he started playing the piano at the age of three and began co ...

* J. H. Maunder * E. J. Moeran * Thomas Morley *

Herbert Murrill Herbert Henry John Murrill (11 May 1909 – 25 July 1952) was an English musician, composer, and organist. Education and early career Herbert Henry John (later just Herbert) Murrill was born in London, at 19, Fircroft Road in Upper Tooting, th ...

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Peter Nardone Peter Thomas Nardone BA FRCO (born 1965) is primarily a freelance conductor, singer and composer. He has sung with the Monteverdi Choir, The King’s Consort and the Tallis Scholars. He has been Director of Music at Chelmsford Cathedral and was ...

* James Nares * Sydney Nicholson * T. Tertius Noble

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George Oldroyd George Oldroyd (1 December 1886, Healey, West Riding of Yorkshire, England26 February 1951, London, England) was an English organist, composer and teacher of Anglican church music. He studied with the organist and composer Arthur Eaglefield Hull ...

Frederick Ouseley Sir Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley, 2nd Baronet (12 August 18256 April 1889) was an English composer, organist, musicologist and priest. Biography Frederick Ouseley was born in London, the son of Sir Gore Ouseley, and manifested an extraordinary ...

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* Frederick Augustus Packer * Hubert Parry *

Osbert Parsley Osbert Parsley (1510/15111585) was an English Renaissance composer and chorister. Few details of his life are known, but he evidently married in 1558, and lived for a period in the parish of St Saviour's Church, Norwich. A boy chorister at N ...

* Robert Parsons *

Walter Porter Walter Porter (c.1587–1659) was an English composer and church musician. He travelled to Italy to study under Monteverdi, and shows Italian influence in madrigals and his one surviving anthem. Life He was son of Henry Porter, who was musician ...

* Francis Pott * Daniel Purcell *

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

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Vaughan Richardson Vaughan Richardson (died 1729) was an organist at Winchester Cathedral, and a composer, particularly of church music. Life His year of birth is not known, but he is known to have sung at the coronation of James II in 1685 as a chorister of the Cha ...

Alan Ridout Alan Ridout (9 December 1934 – 19 March 1996) was a British composer and teacher. Life Born in West Wickham, Kent, England, Alan Ridout studied briefly at the Guildhall School of Music before commencing four years of study at the Royal C ...

Sir John Rogers, 6th Baronet Sir John Leman Rogers, 6th Baronet (18 April 1780 – 10 December 1847) was a British politician and composer. Born in Plymouth in Devon, he was the eldest son of Sir Frederick Rogers, 5th Baronet and Jane Lillicrap, daughter of John Lillicrap. Ba ...

* Barry Rose * Bernard Rose * John Rutter

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* John Sanders * Martin Shaw *

Richard Shephard Richard James Shephard MBE, DL, FRSCM (20 March 1949 – 20 February 2021) was a British composer, educator, and Director of Development and Chamberlain of York Minster. He was acclaimed as one of the most significant composers of church music o ...

* John Sheppard *

Caleb Simper Caleb Simper (12 September 1856 – 28 August 1942) was an English composer and church organist. He gained fame for his prolific output of choral cantatas, anthems and organ works, which were widely performed and sold in their millions. H ...

Henry Smart Henry Thomas Smart (26 October 1813 – 6 July 1879) was an English organist and composer. Biography Smart was born in London, a nephew of the conductor Sir George Smart and son of a music publisher, orchestra director and accomplished violini ...

* William Smith *

Leo Sowerby Leo Salkeld Sowerby (1 May 1895 – 7 July 1968) was an American composer and church musician. He won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1946 and was often called the “Dean of American church music” in the early to mid 20th century. Biography L ...

John Stainer Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of ''The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some churches of the Anglican Communi ...

* Charles Villiers Stanford * Charles Steggall *

Charles Edward Stephens Charles Edward Stephens (1821–1892) was an English musician and composer. Life He was born in London at 12 Portman Place (now part of Edgware Road) on 18 March 1821, and was nephew to the singer Catherine Stephens. He studied the piano and vio ...

Charles Hylton Stewart Charles Hylton Stewart (21 March 1884 – 14 November 1932) was an English cathedral organist, who served in Rochester Cathedral and St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. He also produced several compositions for organ, and a few for choir. Bac ...

* Herbert Sumsion

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* Thomas Tallis * John Tavener *

John Taverner John Taverner ( – 18 October 1545) was an English composer and organist, regarded as one of the most important English composers of his era. He is best-known for ''Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas'' and ''The Western Wynde Mass'', and ''Missa Coro ...

* Thomas Tomkins * George William Torrance * John Travers *

Noël Tredinnick Dr Noël Harwood Tredinnick (born 9 March 1949) is a British composer, organist, orchestrator and conductor. He was awarded a Lambeth DMus degree in March 2002. In Queen Elizabeth's Birthday Honours bestowed in 2021, he received a BEM (British E ...

James Turle James Turle (5 March 1802 – 28 June 1882) was an English organist and composer, best known today as the writer of several widely sung Anglican chants and the hymn tune "Westminster" sung to the words of Frederick William Faber "My God, how wond ...

* William Turner *

Christopher Tye Christopher Tye (c.1505 – before 1573) was an English Renaissance composer and organist. Probably born in Cambridgeshire, he trained at the University of Cambridge and became the master of the choir at Ely Cathedral. He is noted as the music ...

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Stanley Vann William Stanley Vann D.Mus Hon FTCL FRCO ARCM (15 February 1910 – 27 March 2010) was an English composer, organist, choral conductor, and choir trainer, primarily in the Anglican cathedral tradition. Early life Born in Leicester, he star ...

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

* Charles Garland Verrinder

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Thomas Attwood Walmisley Thomas Attwood Walmisley (21 January 181417 January 1856) was an English composer and organist. Life and career He was born in London, the son of Thomas Forbes Gerrard Walmisley (1783–1866), a well-known organist and composer of church music a ...

* William Walton * Thomas Weelkes * John Weldon * Samuel Wesley * Samuel Sebastian Wesley * Alfred Wheeler *

Healey Willan James Healey Willan (12 October 1880 – 16 February 1968) was an Anglo-Canadian organist and composer. He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and ...

* Michael Wise * Charles Wood * Richard Woodward

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See also