Richard Mudge (born 1718 in

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ' ...

; died April 1763 in

Bedworth Bedworth ( or locally ) is a market town and unparished area in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwickshire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : It is situated between Coventry, 6 miles (9.5 km) to the south, a ...

) was an English

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and composer of the late baroque period.

Life

Born in

, Richard Mudge was the son of the teacher and cleric Zachariah Mudge (1694–1769), and his wife Mary Fox (died c.1762). He was baptized on December 26, 1718. The third of five children, he was educated at

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named aft ...

, from 1735, graduating BA in 1738 and MA in 1741. Initially the private chaplain to Heneage Finch, Lord Guernsey (later 3rd Earl of Aylesford), Mudge became curate of the villages of Great and Little Packington in 1741. Between 1745 and 1757 he was Rector at

Little Packington Little Packington is a hamlet and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire, England. It is situated just to the northwest of Great Packington and outside the boundaries of Packington Park. Population details c ...

, and from 1750 he was also Curate of St. Bartholomew's Chapel in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. He married Mary Hopkins on 27 March 1747 at

St Cross Church, Oxford St Cross Church is a former parish church, now a historic collections centre, in Oxford, England, to the northeast of the centre of the city. The church is on St Cross Road at the junction with Manor Road, just south of Holywell Manor. Also cl ...

, with whom he had one daughter, Mary (bap. 1752). After 1756 Lord Guernsey established Mudge in the independent living of

, where he lived until his death.

Work

In 1749 he published a set of six, string

concertos A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typ ...

(''6 Concertos in Seven Parts''). The last five of these are written for two solo violins and string orchestra, and No.1 also has a

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standar ...

part. They are all in the form of a

French Overture The French overture is a musical form widely used in the Baroque music, Baroque period. Its basic formal division is into two parts, which are usually enclosed by double bars and repeat signs. They are complementary in style (slow in dotted rhythm ...

, with a concluding

Minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accompa ...

, and follow the conventional slow-fast-slow-fast pattern of movements common to the form. All these works show the influence of

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his train ...

and

Francesco Geminiani 230px Francesco Saverio Geminiani (baptised 5 December 1687 – 17 September 1762) was an Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist. BBC Radio 3 once described him as "now largely forgotten, but in his time considered almost a musical god, ...

, and they were staples of the provincial music society repertoire. The collection also contains an eight-part "Non Nobis Domine". The first recording of Mudge's concerto set was made in 1957 with

Maurice André Maurice André (21 May 1933 – 25 February 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field. He was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he introduced the teaching of the pic ...

performing the trumpet concerto. A modern edition of Concertos 1, 4 and 6 had already been edited by

Gerald Finzi Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice an ...

, but a facsimile edition of the complete set was published in 1993 by King's Music. As late as the 1990s, two portfolios were rediscovered containing other manuscripts of Richard Mudge's music. A recording of the complete set was made by the Swiss Capriccio Barockorchester in 2009 on the Tudor label.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mudge, Richard English Baroque composers Classical-period composers 18th-century classical composers 18th-century British male musicians English classical composers 1718 births 1763 deaths English male classical composers