Henry Hall ( – 30 March 1707) was a 17th-century English
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 def ...
of church and secular music and also a
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
.
Hall, a contemporary of
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...
, received his musical education under
Pelham Humfrey
Pelham Humfrey (''Humphrey, Humphrys'') (1647 in London – 14 July 1674 in Windsor) was an English composer. He was the first of the new generation of English composers at the beginning of the Restoration to rise to prominence.
Life and career
...
and Dr
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,[Chapel Royal
A chapel royal is an establishment in the British and Canadian royal households serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the royal family.
Historically, the chapel royal was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarc ...]
. He took a temporary post at
Wells Cathedral
Wells Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Bath and Wells and the mother church of the diocese of Bath and Wells. There are daily Church of England services in ...
in the summer of 1674, but by August of that year he had secured
permanent employment at
Exeter Cathedral
Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The presen ...
as organist and lay vicar choral. Hall remained at Exeter until sometime before 27 June 1679 when he became assistant organist to John Badham at
Hereford Cathedral
Hereford Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Hereford and the principal church of the diocese of Hereford. The cathedral is a grade I listed building.
A place of wors ...
. On Badham's death in September 1688, became organist of Hereford Cathedral. He held this post until his death in March 1707, in
Hereford
Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...
, when he was succeeded by his son, Henry Hall junior, as he is typically described, who also served as organist until his own death in 1714.
Further reading
* Oliver Pickering: ''The poems and songs of Henry Hall of Hereford : a Jacobite poet of the 1690s'', Cambridge : Legenda, 2022,
External links
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1650s births
1707 deaths
English composers
English male poets
{{England-poet-stub