John Alcock (organist)
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John Alcock (11 April 1715, London – 23 February 1806) was an English organist and composer. He wrote instrumental music, glees and much church music.
Career
[edit]He was a pupil of John Stanley at St. Paul's Cathedral, and he earned a doctorate in music at the University of Oxford in 1766.[1] Much detail of his life is included in his semi-autobiographical novel, The Life Of Miss Fanny Brown published under the pseudonym John Piper in 1771. He also held a position as private organist to the Earl of Donegall.
He was:
- Organist of St Andrew's Church, Plymouth 1737–1741
- Organist of St Laurence's Church, Reading 1741–1750
- Organist of Lichfield Cathedral 1750–1766
- Organist of Holy Trinity Church, Sutton Coldfield 1761–1786
- Organist of St. Editha's Church, Tamworth 1766–1790[2]
Personal life
[edit]John Alcock married Margaret Beaumont (1711–1792) on 20 May 1737. They had several children, including their eldest son and fellow composer John (1740—1791) and youngest son and organist William (1756—1833).[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Randel, Don Michael, ed. (1996). "Alcock, John". The Harvard biographical dictionary of music. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press. pp. 12. ISBN 0-674-37299-9.
- ^ Cathedral Organists, John E. West, London, Novello and Company, 1899.
- ^ Johnstone, H. Diack (2004). "Alcock, John (1715–1806)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/291. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
External links
[edit]
Wikisource has the text of the 1885–1900 Dictionary of National Biography's article about John Alcock.
- Free scores by John Alcock in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- Free scores by John Alcock at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
Categories:
- Cathedral organists
- English organists
- 1715 births
- 1806 deaths
- Glee composers
- English classical composers of church music
- 18th-century classical composers
- 18th-century British male musicians
- 18th-century keyboardists
- English male classical composers
- 19th-century English musicians
- 19th-century English male musicians
- English male classical organists