James Kent (13 March 1700 – 6 May 1776) was an English organist and composer. Kent was born in

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

and was a

chorister A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

and the King's Chapel. He was appointed organist of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he worked until about 1737. Then he was organist in Winchester of both the cathedral and the college. He retired in 1774 and was buried after his death in 1776 in the north aisle of the cathedral. His memorial is in the floor of the north transept. He was a pupil of

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 assisted William Boyce in publishing his collection of cathedral music.

Works

* Anthems: ''Hearken unto this, O Man. When the Son of Man. Give the Lord the honour due. Thine, o Lord, is the Greatness.'' etc. * ”My Song Shall Be of Mercy and Judgement” - Solo Soprano and Organ

Sources

James Kent
biography

'Memoir of James Kent' in ''The Harmonicon'', Volume 8, pp. 313–314, by William Ayrton, accessed 21 November 2010
English Baroque composers Winchester Cathedral 1700 births 1776 deaths 18th-century English composers 18th-century English male musicians {{UK-composer-stub