View source for William Croft

{{short description|English composer and organist}}
{{other people}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name             = William Croft
| image            = WilliamCroftChoirboy.jpg
| image_upright    = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = William Croft as a [[choirboy]], c. 1690.
| baptised         = {{birth date|1678|12|30|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Ettington]], Warwickshire
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1727|08|14|1678|12|30|df=y}}
| death_place      = 
| occupation       = Composer and organist
| organizations    = {{plainlist|
* [[St. Anne's Church, Soho]]
* [[Chapel Royal]]
* [[Westminster Abbey]]
}}
}}
'''William Croft''' ([[baptism|baptised]] 30 December 1678 – 14 August 1727) was an English composer and organist.

==Life==
Croft was born at the Manor House, Nether [[Ettington]], Warwickshire. He was educated at the [[Chapel Royal]] under the instruction of [[John Blow]], and remained there until 1698. Two years after this departure, he became organist of [[St. Anne's Church, Soho]] and he became an organist and 'Gentleman extraordinary' at the Chapel Royal.<ref name=choral/> He shared that post with his friend [[Jeremiah Clarke]].<ref>John Calvert {{google books|1osrAAAAYAAJ|A Collection of Anthems Used in Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, the Temple ...|page=15}}</ref><ref name=choral>Dennis Shrock {{google books|-SVnDAAAQBAJ|Choral Repertoire|page=325}}</ref>

In 1700, Croft, in collaboration with "an Italian Master", probably [[Gottfried Finger]], published six [[sonata]]s for violin, flute, harpsichord and [[viol]], in the newly fashionable Italian style.<ref>{{cite book |last=Holman |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Holman |date=2013 |title=Life After Death: The Viola Da Gamba in Britain from Purcell to Dolmetsch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RUzBfC_NRAIC&pg=PA47  |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=47 |isbn=978-1843835745}}</ref>

In 1707, he took over the [[Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal]] post, which had been left vacant by the suicide of Jeremiah Clarke.<ref name=choral/> The following year, Croft succeeded Blow (who had lately died) as organist of [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name=choral/> He composed works for the funeral of Queen [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne]] (1714) and for the coronation of King [[George I of Great Britain|George I]] (1715).

In 1724, Croft published ''Musica Sacra'', a collection of church music, the first such collection to be printed in the form of a score. It contains a ''Burial Service'', which may have been written for Queen Anne or for the [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|Duke of Marlborough]].<ref>Spink (1995), p. 183</ref> Shortly afterwards his health deteriorated, and he died while visiting [[Bath, England|Bath]] aged 48.

A fragment of music attributed to Croft, ''Ground in C minor'' (D221), has been used by contemporary composer [[Michael Nyman]] as the source of his piece ''An Eye for an Optical Theory''.<ref>[http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/work/11494 An Eye for Optical Theory] [[Music Sales Group#Chester Music|Chester Music]]</ref><ref>{{Google books|lTMrDwAAQBAJ|The Music of Michael Nyman: Texts, Contexts and Intertexts|page=96|keywords=|text=|}}</ref>

===St Anne===
One of Croft's most enduring pieces is the [[hymn tune]] "St Anne" written to the poem ''[[O God, Our Help in Ages Past|Our God, Our Help in Ages Past]]'' by [[Isaac Watts]]. Other composers subsequently incorporated the tune in their own works. [[Handel]] used it, for instance, in an [[anthem]] entitled ''O Praise the Lord With One Consent'',  as did [[Arthur Sullivan]] in his [[Festival Te Deum]] of 1872'','' and also [[Hubert Parry]] in his 1911 ''Coronation [[Te Deum]]''.<ref>Range, Matthias (2012), [https://books.google.com/books?id=_rIgAwAAQBAJ&dq=Parry+Coronation+%22Te+Deum%22+1911&pg=PA241 ''Music and Ceremonial at British Coronations: From James I to Elizabeth II''] Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-1-107-02344-4}} (p. 241)</ref> Bach's Fugue in E-flat major, [[BWV 552]], is often called the "St. Anne", due to the similarity (coincidental in this case) of its subject to the hymn melody's first phrase. A  further tune attributed to William Croft is 'Binchester' (a village in County Durham) for the hymn 'Happy are they, they that love God'. His tune 'Eatington', for the hymn 'The Church triumphant in thy love' takes its title from Croft's birthplace of Lower [[Ettington]].

===Funeral sentences===
Perhaps Croft's most notable legacy is the suite of ''Funeral Sentences'' which have been described as a "glorious work of near genius".<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Music of the English Church|last = Long|first = Kenneth R.|publisher = Hodder and Stoughton|year = 1972|location = London|pages = 291}}</ref> First published as part of the ''Burial Service'' in ''Musica Sacra'', the date and purpose of their composition is uncertain.<ref>{{cite journal |title=William Croft's Burial Service and Purcell's "Thou knowest, Lord" |last1=Range |first1=Matthias |year=2009 |journal=The Musical Times |volume=150 |issue = 1906|pages=54–68 |jstor = 25597602}}</ref> The seven sentences themselves are from the ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]'' and are verses from various books of the Bible, intended to be said or sung during an [[Anglican]] funeral.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=The Book of Common Prayer – The Order for the Burial of the Dead|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/burial-dead|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=22 December 2020|website=churchofengland.org|publisher=The Archbishops' Council}}</ref> One of the sentences, ''Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts'', was not composed by Croft, but by [[Henry Purcell]], part of his 1695 ''[[Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary]]''. Croft wrote: 
{{blockquote|"...there is one verse composed by my predecessor, the famous Mr Henry Purcell, to which, in justice to his memory, his name is applied. The reason why I did not compose that verse anew (so as to render the whole service entirely of my own composition) is obvious to every Artist; in the rest of that service composed by me, I have endeavoured as near as I could, to imitate that great master and celebrated composer, whose name will for ever stand high in the rank of those who have laboured to improve the English style..."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chorus.ucdavis.edu/Notes/04-05/December04ChamberSingers.pdf |title=Music by Henry Purcell (1659–1695) |website=chorus.ucdavis.edu |date=28 June 2013 |publisher=University Chorus, University of California at Davis |access-date=24 September 2014}}</ref>}}

Croft's ''Funeral Sentences'' were sung at [[Will of George Frideric Handel#Handel.27s funeral|George Frederic Handel's funeral]] in 1759,<ref name ="Burrows">Burrows, Donald (2012) [https://books.google.com/books?id=5QywKxrY2aQC&dq=Croft+Funeral+sentences&pg=PA327 ''Handel''], Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-973736-9}}  (p. 327)</ref> and have been included in every British [[state funeral]] since their publication. They were used at the funerals of [[Winston Churchill]] in [[Death and state funeral of Winston Churchill|1965]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Range |first=Matthias |date=2016 |title=British Royal and State Funerals: Music and Ceremonial since Elizabeth I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kn1FDAAAQBAJ |location=Martlesham, Suffolk |publisher=Boydell Press |page=297 |isbn=978-1783270927}}</ref> [[Diana, Princess of Wales]] in [[Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales|1997]],<ref name ="Burrows"/> [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother]] in [[Death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|2002]],<ref>Starkey, David and Greening, Katie (2012), [https://books.google.com/books?id=YB8xsFjUzTkC&dq=%22Queen+Mother%22+Croft+Funeral+sentences&pg=PA350 ''Music and Monarchy''], BBC Books, {{ISBN|978-1-849-90586-2}} (p. 350)</ref> [[Baroness Thatcher]] in [[Death and funeral of Margaret Thatcher|2013]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=The order of service for the funeral of Baroness Thatcher - St Paul's Cathedral|url=https://www.stpauls.co.uk/news-press/latest-news/the-order-of-service-for-the-funeral-of-baroness-thatcher|access-date=2021-04-30|website=www.stpauls.co.uk}}</ref> [[Prince Philip]] in [[Death and funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|2021]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/prince-philip-funeral-music-hymns-what-time-st-georges-chapel/|title = What music and hymns will we hear at the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral?}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-04-17|title=Prince Philip's funeral: The order of service|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56783425|access-date=2021-04-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Order of Service for the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in full|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/17/uk/prince-philip-funeral-order-of-the-service-intl-gbr/index.html|access-date=2021-04-30|website=CNN|date=17 April 2021 }}</ref> and [[Queen Elizabeth II]] in [[Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II|2022]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Queen Elizabeth's funeral: Order of service at Westminster Abbey|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62948934|access-date=2022-09-19|date=2022-09-19|website=BBC news}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

* Spink (1995) Ian. Oxford ''Restoration Cathedral Music, 1660–1714'' Oxford University Press

==External links==
{{Commons category|William Croft (composer)}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* [http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?Composer=CroftW Free scores] at the [[Mutopia Project]]
* {{ChoralWiki}}
* [http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/c/r/o/croft_w.htm Music by William Croft]
* {{IMSLP|id=Croft, William}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=William Croft}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-culture}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Francis Pigott (composer)|Francis Pigott]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Joint First Organist of the [[Chapel Royal]] with [[Jeremiah Clarke]]
|years=1704–1707}}
{{s-aft|after=William Croft}}
{{s-bef|before=William Croft and [[Jeremiah Clarke]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=First Organist of the [[Chapel Royal]]
|years=1707–1727}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Maurice Greene (composer)|Maurice Greene]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Blow]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Director of Music|Organist and Master of the Choristers]] of [[Westminster Abbey]]
|years=1708–1727}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Robinson (organist)|John Robinson]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Blow]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Master of the Children]] of the [[Chapel Royal]]
|years=1708–1727}}
{{s-aft|after=Bernard Gates}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, William}}
[[Category:1678 births]]
[[Category:1727 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century English classical composers]]
[[Category:18th-century English keyboardists]]
[[Category:18th-century English male musicians]]
[[Category:English classical composers of church music]]
[[Category:English Baroque composers]]
[[Category:English classical organists]]
[[Category:English male classical composers]]
[[Category:English male classical organists]]
[[Category:English Anglicans]]
[[Category:Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal]]
[[Category:Masters of the Children of the Chapel Royal]]
[[Category:Members of the Academy of Ancient Music]]
[[Category:People from Stratford-on-Avon District]]
[[Category:Burials at Westminster Abbey]]
[[Category:Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey]]