John Eccles (1668 – 12 January 1735) was an English composer. Born 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 ...

, eldest son of professional musician

Solomon Eccles Solomon Eccles (1618–1683), also known as Solomon Eagle, was an English composer. However, he later became an active Quaker and distanced himself from church music. Life Solomon Eagle was mentioned in Daniel Defoe's semi-fictional account of ...

and brother of fellow composer Henry Eccles, John Eccles was appointed to the King's Private Music in 1694, and in 1700 became Master of the King's Musick. Also in 1700 he finished second in a competition to write music for William Congreve's

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A mas ...

'' The Judgement of Paris'' ( John Weldon won). Eccles was very active as a composer for the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

, and from the 1690s wrote a large amount of

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead ...

including music for Congreve's ''Love for Love'',

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the p ...

's ''The Spanish Friar'' and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

''. Jointly with

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest En ...

he wrote incidental music for Thomas d'Urfey's ''Don Quixote''. He became a composer to Drury Lane theatre in 1693 and when some of the actors broke off to form their own company at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1695, he composed music for them as well including for John Dennis's '' Rinaldo and Armida''. Eccles also wrote music for the coronation of Queen Anne and a number of

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

s. Many of his most famous songs, such as "I burn, I burn" were composed for the actress-singer Anne Bracegirdle to perform. Recognizing Eccles’s ability to write for her needs, Mrs Bracegirdle, undoubtedly under his tutelage, thereafter sang only his music.http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com – John Eccles. Eccles also wrote an all-sung English opera ''

Semele Semele (; Ancient Greek: Σεμέλη ), in Greek mythology, was the youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. Certain elements of the cult of Dionysus and Semele came from ...

'' with text by Congreve, but it was not staged until the 20th century. Congreve's libretto would later serve as the basis for George Frideric Handel's ''

'' (1744). For much of the later part of his life, Eccles lived in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable a ...

and wrote additional incidental music (though not as frequently as he had for Lincoln's Inn Fields) as well as the occasional court ode. He is reported to have spent much of his time

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...

. He was the only Master of the King's Musick in the history of the post to serve four monarchs (King William III, Queen Anne, King George I and King George II).

Modern Editions

Until recently Eccles’s music has been largely unavailable. Now, however, a modern edition of the works of John Eccles is now in progress under the general editorship of Michael Burden, Amanda Eubanks Winkler, Alan Howard, and Kathryn Lowerre, and published by A-R Editions. The edition so far has produced ''Music for Macbeth'' edited by Amanda Eubanks Winkler; ''The Judgement of Paris'' edited by Eric Harbeson; ''Rinaldo and Armida'' edited by Steven Plank; ''Incidental Music Part 1'' edited by Amanda Eubanks Winkler; and ''Europe’s Revels for the Peace of Ryswick'' edited by Michael Burden. Eccles’s major opera, ''Semele'', can be found in volume 76 of ''Musica Britannica'', edited by Richard Platt.

References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eccles, John 1668 births 1735 deaths English classical composers English Baroque composers Masters of the Queen's Music Musicians from London 18th-century classical composers 18th-century British male musicians 17th-century English composers 18th-century English people 18th-century English composers English male classical composers Masters of the King's Music 17th-century male musicians