Francis Pigott ( 1665 – 15 May 1704) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Baroque composer and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...

Career

He was a

choirboy A choirboy is a boy member of a choir, also known as a treble. As a derisive slang term, it refers to a do-gooder or someone who is morally upright, in the same sense that "Boy Scout" (also derisively) refers to someone who is considered honora ...

at the Chapel Royal in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

from at least August 1678 to

Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, ...

1683. A record at St John's College, Oxford shows a "Mr Pygott, the organist at St John's" and although there is no other evidence that he was employed there, he may have replaced Bartholemew Isaack who left the college for

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

in late 1684. Pigott was appointed organist at Magdalen College, Oxford in January 1686 and returned to London to play the

Father Smith "Father" Bernard Smith (c. 1630 – 1708) was a German-born master organ maker in England in the late seventeenth century. Smith born as Bernhardt Schmidt in Halle, Germany, served his apprenticeship in Germany before emigrating to England in 1 ...

organ at the

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

in 1688. On the death of Henry Purcell in 1695, Pigott received an "extraordinary" appointment as organist at the Chapel Royal, and was finally sworn in as the First Organist on 24 March 1697, after the death of

William Child William Child (160623 March 1697) was an English composer and organist. Early life Born in Bristol, Child was a chorister in the cathedral under the direction of Elway Bevin. In 1630 he began his lifetime association with St. George's Chape ...

.Shay, Robert and Thompson, Robert (2006)
''Purcell Manuscripts: The Principal Musical Sources''
Cambridge University Press (p. 312)

Works

Pigott has been tentatively identified as the manuscript copyist known as "London A" by his handwriting and by his known association with Henry Purcell and other notable composers of the time. Pigott also collaborated with

John Blow John Blow (baptised 23 February 1649 – 1 October 1708) was an English composer and organist of the Baroque period. Appointed organist of Westminster Abbey in late 1668,William Croft William Croft (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

Jeremiah Clarke Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1674 – 1 December 1707) was an English baroque composer and organist, best known for his ''Trumpet Voluntary,'' a popular piece often played at wedding ceremonies or commencement ceremonies. Biography The exact date of Cla ...

in the production of ''A Choice Collection of Ayres for the Harpsicorde'' (London, 1700). His

setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...

Abraham Cowley Abraham Cowley (; 161828 July 1667) was an English poet and essayist born in the City of London late in 1618. He was one of the leading English poets of the 17th century, with 14 printings of his ''Works'' published between 1668 and 1721. Early ...

's poem ''The Separation'', appears in a compilation called ''The Banquet of Musick'' published in volumes between 1688 and 1692. Pigott's setting of the anthem, ''

I was glad "I was glad" (Latin incipit, "Laetatus sum") is a choral introit which is a popular piece in the musical repertoire of the Anglican church. It is traditionally sung in the Church of England as an anthem at the Coronation of the British monarch. ...

'', was sung at the

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...

of Queen Anne in 1702; it was also used at the coronation of King George I in 1714 and was probably the setting intended for that of King George II in 1727 but was omitted on the day by mistake.

Family

It is believed that Pigott was the son of Francis Pigott (1614 to 1694), who is mentioned as a musician in the diary of Samuel Pepys, and his wife, Elizabeth ''née'' Lawson, who were married in 1664. The younger Francis Pigott married Anne Pelling in 1688; their son, John Pigott, succeeded his father as the organist at the Temple Church in 1704. John's son, another Francis Pigott, was organist at

St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...

until 1756.West, John E (1899)
''Cathedral Organists Past and Present''
Novello & Company, London (p. 132)

Scores

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pigott, Francis 1665 births 1704 deaths English Baroque composers English classical composers English classical organists British male organists Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal 17th-century classical composers English male classical composers 17th-century male musicians Male classical organists