William Felton (1715 – 6 December 1769) was an English composer. He gained an M.A. at St. John's College, Cambridge in 1745 and was a chaplain to the Princess Dowager of Wales. He composed three sets of six concertos, modelled on Handel's and composed the glee, "Fill, fill, fill the glass".

Biography

William Felton was born in

Market Drayton Market Drayton is a market town and civil parish on the banks of the River Tern in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is located between the towns of Whitchurch, Shropshire, Wh ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. He was educated in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and at St. John's, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1738 and M.A. in 1745. He was vicar-choral in the choir of

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Hereford and the principal church of the diocese of Hereford. The cathedral is a grade I listed building. A place of wors ...

in 1741, custos of the vicars-choral in 1769, and chaplain to the Princess Dowager of Wales (

Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg ( – 8 February 1772) was Princess of Wales by marriage to Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir apparent of King George II. She never became queen consort, as Frederick predeceased his father ...

). During a time when, according to

Charles Burney Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicis ...

, players of the harpsichord had little choice of good music; several of Felton's three sets of six concertos for organ or harpsichord and of his eight suites of easy lessons became the "pride of every incipient player in town and country." Felton's

gavotte The gavotte (also gavot, gavote, or gavotta) is a French dance, taking its name from a folk dance of the Gavot, the people of the Gap, Hautes-Alpes, Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné in the southeast of France, where the dance originated, accordin ...

, attained great popularity; it was introduced in Vincenzo Legrenzio Ciampi's opera ''Bertoldo'' in 1672. However, it "was too common and vulgar for an opera audience". Felton's concertos were modelled on those 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 concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

, whom the amateur held in admiration. Burney relates that Handel was asked, while in the barber's hands, to allow the mention of his name in the list of subscribers to Felton's ''Second Set''. He started up in a fury, and, with his face still in a lather, cried with great vehemence: "Tamn yourseluf and go to der teiffel—a barson make concerto! why he no make sarmon!" and Brown, the leader of the queen's band, who had had the temerity to prefer the modest request, fled from Handel's presence. No record, in fact, appears of sermons by the composer Felton, but, besides writing for the harpsichord and other instruments, on which he was a skilled performer, he is said to have composed the glee "Fill, fill, fill the glass", and to have acted as steward at the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester, and Worcester) and originally fe ...

s of Hereford, 1744, and Gloucester, 1745. Felton died 6 December 1769, and was buried in Hereford Cathedral.

Notes

References

* Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Felton, William 1715 births 1769 deaths 18th-century English classical composers 18th-century English male musicians Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English Baroque composers People from Market Drayton Musicians from Hereford English male classical composers