Richard Ayleward (1626 – 15 October 1669) was an English composer and musician. He is noted for his contribution to the repertoire of
Anglican church music.
Early life
Ayleward was born the son of a minor
canon at
Winchester Cathedral. There he sang as a
chorister in the cathedral choir.
Career
During the
English Restoration
The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...
, Ayleward was appointed
organist and
choirmaster of
Norwich Cathedral. He held office there from 1661 to 1664, and again from 1666 to 1669, working under the director of music
Christopher Gibbons, the son of
Orlando Gibbons.
During the
Interregnum
An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...
Ayleward no doubt did much writing of choral pieces, possibly for private home performance, as, to mark the
coronation of
Charles II, he produced twenty-five anthems, all showing highly original composition. During the year 1664–1665, Ayleward gave up his position at Norwich, and he appears to have been away at "the assizes". There is no indication of what caused this "call". However, he was reappointed in 1665 and remained at his position until his death on 15 October 1669.
His compositions are unusual in that they call for three or four solo voices in the same range, in some cases, and they required massive resources for full performance. They were extensively scored works for many, many performers, and greater personnel than Norwich may have possessed in its regular choir. All the manuscripts of his compositions were owned by Norwich Cathedral, and these were purchased by A. H. Mann and published.
Some of Ayleward's hymns and musical settings for
evensong (especially his
Responses) remain in use in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
.
References
*Granger, PR, Peter Aston, Tom Roast. "Richard Ayleward" in Sade, Stanley, ed. ''The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.'' New York: Macmillan, 2001. vol. 2, p 264.
*Spink, Ian. "Richard Ayleward" in Matthew, H.C.G. and Brian Harrison, eds. ''
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.'' vol. 3, p 14. London:
OUP, 2004.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayleward, Richard
1626 births
1669 deaths
17th-century English classical composers