James Nares (19 April 1715 – 10 February 1783) was an English composer of mostly sacred vocal works, though he also composed for the

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a ...

and organ.

Life

Nares was born in

Stanwell Stanwell is a village close to two of the three main towns in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, about west of central London. A small corner of its land is vital industrial land serving Heathrow Airport – most of the rest is residentia ...

, although soon after his family moved to Oxfordshire.Biographical note found in the introduction to ''A Morning and an Evening Service'' (London: John Preston, 1788), p. -ii His brother was a justice,

Sir George Nares Vice-Admiral Sir George Strong Nares (24 April 1831 – 15 January 1915) was a Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. He commanded the ''Challenger'' Expedition, and the British Arctic Expedition. He was highly thought of as a leader an ...

. He began his career as Deputy Organist of

St. George's Chapel 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 ...

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

, and was later appointed Organist of

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archb ...

in 1735. He married soon after that. Nares was a pupil of Bernard Gates (Master of the King's Choristers), Johann Christoph Pepusch and William Croft. His patron and friend was John Fountayne, the Dean of York. He replaced his tutor, Gates, as chorister at the

Chapel Royal The Chapel Royal is an establishment in the Royal Household serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the British Royal Family. Historically it was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarch. The term is now also appl ...

in 1756. At this time the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

bestowed the degree Doctor of Music upon him. He was assistant organist at St George's Chapel in Windsor, then succeeded Salisbury at York Minster, before returning to the Chapel Royal in 1756 to become organist and composer to

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, succeeding Maurice Greene. It is believed that Nares was the first person to systematically publish a series of keyboard lessons for students of the piano. Nares resigned his duties in July 1781 due to declining health and died 10 February 1783. Nares is buried in St. Margaret's, Westminster. His service in F and many of his anthems are still used in cathedrals. He was the father of Revd Robert Nares (1753–1829), the philologist and author.

Compositions

*''The Souls of the Righteous'', 1734 *''Set of eight Harpsichord Lessons'', 1747 *''Five Harpsichord lessons'', Op. 2, 1759 *''Elegy on Mr. Handel'', 1759 *''Il Principio or a Regular Introduction to playing on the Harpsichord or Organ'', 1760, reissued in facsimile by Oxford University Press in 1981. *''Six Fugues for Organ'', 1772 *''Three Easy Harpsichord Lessons'', 1778 *''A Treatise on Singing'', 1778 *''The Royal Pastoral'', 1778 *''Collection of Catches, Canons and Glees'', 1778 *''Six Organ Fugues'', 1778 *''Second Treatise on Singing, with a set of English duets'', 1778 *''Twenty Anthems'', 1778 *''A Morning and Evening Service and Six Anthems'', 1788

Sources

* James Nares. ''Il Principio or a Regular Introduction to playing on the Harpsichord or Organ'', a Facsimile of the Original Edition of 1760 with Introduction Notes by Robin Langley, London, Oxford University Press, 1981.

Notes

References

Sources

External links

James Nares
at the Nares genealogy project * *
Hymn tunes composed by James Nares
at Hymnary.org
''Ingenious Jestings''

Julian Perkins Julian Perkins is a British conductor and keyboard player (harpsichord, fortepiano and clavichord). Shortlisted for the Gramophone Award in 2021, he is Artistic Director of the Portland Baroque Orchestra in the USA. He lives in London, Engla ...

(Avie Records, AV 2152). The world-première recording of James Nares's ''Eight Setts of Lessons for the Harpsichord ''(London, 1747).'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Nares, James 1715 births 1783 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century British male musicians Cathedral organists Classical composers of church music English classical composers English male classical composers Masters of the Children of the Chapel Royal