Editing William Boyce (composer)

{{Short description|English composer and organist (18th. c.)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
[[Image:William Boyce by John Russell 1776.jpg|thumb|William Boyce by [[John Russell (English painter)|John Russell]], 1776]]
'''William Boyce''' (baptised 11 September 1711 – 7 February 1779) was an English composer and organist. Like [[Beethoven]] later on, he became deaf but continued to compose. He knew [[Handel]], [[Thomas Arne|Arne]], [[Christoph Willibald Gluck|Gluck]], [[Johann Christian Bach|J.C. Bach]], [[Carl Friedrich Abel|Abel]], and a very young [[Mozart]], all of whom respected his work.

==Life==
[[File:William Boyce, ca. 1745.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.3|William Boyce by [[Thomas Hudson (painter)|Thomas Hudson]], ca. 1745]]
Boyce was born in London, at Joiners Hall, then in [[Lower Thames Street]], to John Boyce, at the time a joiner and cabinet-maker, and [[beadle]] of the [[Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers]], and his wife Elizabeth Cordwell. He was baptised on 11 September 1711 and was admitted by his father as a [[choirboy]] at [[St Paul's Cathedral]] in 1719. After his voice broke in 1727, he studied music with [[Maurice Greene (composer)|Maurice Greene]].<ref name=Bruce>Bruce (2005)</ref>

His first professional appointment came in 1734 when he was employed as an organist at the [[St Peter, Vere Street|Oxford Chapel]] in central London. He went on to take a number of similar posts before being appointed [[Master of the King's Musick]] in 1757 (he had applied for the post on the death of Maurice Greene in 1755) and becoming one of the organists at the [[Chapel Royal]] in 1758.<ref>Fiske (1995), p. 138-9</ref> He also gave lessons, his daughter telling the composer [[R. J. S. Stevens]] that both [[Thomas Linley the Elder]] and [[Thomas Linley the Younger]] had been his pupils in [[counterpoint]] in the period 1763–1768.<ref>Fiske (1995), p. 140</ref>

His work as a composer began in the 1730s, writing songs for [[Vauxhall Gardens]]. In 1736 he was named as composer to the [[Chapel Royal]] and wrote the [[oratorio]] ''David's Lamentation over Saul and Jonathan. ''He was engaged as conductor to the [[Three Choirs Festival]] in 1737; many of his works, including the ''Worcester Overture'' (today known as his Symphony no. 8), will have been premiered at the Festival over the succeeding years. The 1740s saw his opera ''Peleus and Thetis'', the serenata ''[[Solomon (Boyce)|Solomon]]'', and his ''Secular Masque'', to a libretto by [[John Dryden]]. In 1749 he wrote an ode and the anthem ''O be joyful'' to celebrate the installation of the [[Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle|Duke of Newcastle]] as Chancellor of [[Cambridge University]], and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Music.<ref>Fiske (1995), p. 138</ref> In 1747 he had published his first purely instrumental composition, a set of "Twelve Sonatas for Two Violins and a Bass" and these proved popular. [[Charles Burney]] wrote that they were "not only in constant use, as Chamber music, in private concerts ... but in our theatres, as act-tunes [i.e. intermezzi] and public gardens, as favourite pieces, during many years."<ref name=Bruce />

In the 1750s Boyce supplied [[David Garrick]] with songs and other music for many productions at the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane Theatre]].  These included his own operas ''The Chaplet'' and ''The Shepherd's Lottery'', both to libretti by [[Moses Mendez]], and for Garrick's  1759 pantomime ''Harlequin's Invasion'' which contained what became Boyce's most famous song, ''[[Heart of Oak]]''.<ref name=Bruce />

As Master of the King's Musick Boyce had the responsibility of writing music for royal occasions including funerals, weddings and coronations. He, however, refused to make a new setting of ''[[Zadok the Priest]]'' for the [[coronation of George III and Charlotte]] in 1761 on the grounds that [[George Frederick Handel|Handel]]'s setting of the anthem was unsurpassable – as a consequence of which Handel's setting has been played at every subsequent British coronation.<ref name=Bruce /> However, that coronation is the only one recorded where a single musician wrote nearly all the music, Boyce having composed a total of eight anthems specifically for the event.<ref>{{cite book |last=Range |first=Matthias |date=2012 |title=Music and Ceremonial at British Coronations: From James I to Elizabeth II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_rIgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA165 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages= 162–163 |isbn= 978-1-107-02344-4 }}</ref>

By the year 1758, his deafness had increased to such an extent that he was unable to continue in his organist posts. He resolved to give up teaching and to retire to Kensington, and devote himself to editing the collection of church music which bears his name. He retired and worked on completing the compilation ''Cathedral Music'' that his teacher Greene had left incomplete at his death. This led to Boyce editing works by the likes of [[William Byrd]] and [[Henry Purcell]]. Many of the pieces in the collection are still used in [[Anglican]] services today.

On 7 February 1779 Boyce died from an attack of [[gout]], aged 67. He was buried under the dome<ref>"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" [[William Sinclair (Archdeacon of London)|Sinclair, W.]] p. 471: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909.</ref> of [[St Paul's Cathedral]].<ref name="Bruce"/> His only son, also William Boyce (25 March 1764 – 1824), was a professional [[double bass]] player.<ref>''[https://archive.org/stream/britishmusicalb00brow#page/56/mode/1up British musical biography]'' (Birmingham: S.S. Stratton, 1897) p. 56.</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:William Boyce engraved.png|thumb|William Boyce, engraved by [[John Keyse Sherwin]]]]
Boyce was largely forgotten after his death and he remains a little-performed composer today, although a number of his pieces were rediscovered in the 1930s and [[Constant Lambert]] edited and sometimes conducted his works. Lambert had already launched the early stages of the modern Boyce revival in 1928, when he published the first modern edition of the ''Eight Symphonies'' (Bartlett and Bruce 2001). The great exception to this neglect was his church music, which was edited after his death by [[Philip Hayes (composer)|Philip Hayes]] and published in two large volumes, ''Fifteen Anthems by Dr Boyce'' in 1780 and ''A Collection of Anthems and a Short Service'' in 1790 (Bartlett 2003, 54).

Church choral music saw a revival in the 1830s and 1840s, under the influences of the [[Tractarians]], the [[Cambridge Camden Society]], and the financial changes carried out under the "Dean and Chapter Act" (the [[Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1840]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Sally |title=Victorian Britain (Routledge Revivals): An Encyclopedia |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-71617-1 |page=150 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yGQRYu9M74AC&pg=PA150 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Milton |first1=Anthony |last2=Strong |first2=Rowan |last3=Gregory |first3=Jeremy |last4=Morris |first4=Jeremy N. |last5=Sachs |first5=William L. |title=The Oxford History of Anglicanism |date=2017|volume=3 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-969970-4 |page=390 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d97XDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA390 |language=en}}</ref> A new edition of Boyce's works as ''Cathedral Music'', edited by [[Joseph Warren (music editor)|Joseph Warren]], appeared in 1849.<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=28782|first=David J.|last=Golby|title=Warren, Joseph}}</ref>

The first movement (''Allegro'') of Boyce's Symphony No. 1 in B-flat was the first piece of music played during the procession of the bride and bridegroom at the conclusion of the [[wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle]] in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.royal.uk/sites/default/files/media/order_of_service.pdf|title=The Official Order of Service for the Wedding of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle|date=18 May 2018|website=[[British royal family]]|access-date=18 December 2019}}</ref> His coronation anthem ''The King Shall Rejoice'', initially composed for the [[Coronation of George III and Charlotte|coronation of George III]] in 1761, was also performed at the [[Coronation of Charles III and Camilla|coronation of Charles III]] in 2023.<ref>{{cite news |title=Coronation order of service in full |work=BBC News |date=5 May 2023 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65503950 |access-date=6 May 2023}}</ref>

Boyce's portraits were painted by [[Joshua Reynolds]] and [[Thomas Hudson (painter)|Thomas Hudson]]. He was drawn and engraved by [[John Keyse Sherwin]], and a vignette made by Drayton after [[Robert Smirke (painter)|Robert Smirke]].<ref>{{DNB|no-icon=1|prescript=|wstitle=Boyce, William}}</ref>

==Works==

See [[List of compositions by William Boyce]]

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==Sources==
* Bruce, Robert J. 2005. "[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3099 Boyce, William (bap. 1711, d. 1779)]", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, [2004; online edition, Oct 2005; subscription or UK library membership required]
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Fiske|first1=Roger|last2 =Platt |first2=Roger|author-link= |editor-last=Sadie |editor-first=Stanley |encyclopedia=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians |title=Boyce, William |trans-title= |url= |access-date= |language= |edition= |year=1995 |publisher=Macmillan |series= |volume=3 |location=London |id= |isbn=0333231112 |oclc= |doi= |pages=138–143 |quote= }}

==Further reading==
* Bartlett, Ian, and Robert J. Bruce. 2001. "Boyce, William". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (professor of music)|John Tyrrell]]. London: Macmillan Publishers.
* Bartlett, Ian. 2003. "Lambert, Finzi and the Anatomy of the Boyce Revival". ''Musical Times'' 144, no. 1884 (Autumn): 54–59.
* Bartlett, Ian and Robert J. Bruce. 2011. "William Boyce: a tercentenary sourcebook and compendium". Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
* Bartlett, Ian, and Robert J. Bruce. 2001. "Boyce, William". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (professor of music)|John Tyrrell]]. London: Macmillan Publishers.
* Kenyon, Nicholas. 1978–79. "William Boyce (1711–1779)" ''Music and Musicians'' 27, no. 6:24–27.

==External links==
{{Commons category|William Boyce}}
* {{wikisource author-inline|William Boyce}}
* {{ChoralWiki|William Boyce}}
* {{IMSLP|id=Boyce, William}}
* [http://www.rslade.co.uk/boyce/index.html William Boyce – biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101018015605/http://www.rslade.co.uk/boyce/index.html |date=18 October 2010 }}
* [http://ml.oxfordjournals.org/content/61/1/28.full.pdf William Boyce's "Solomon"] (Oxford Journals – Music and Letters)
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp00518/william-boyce Portraits of Boyce] (National Portrait Gallery, London)

{{s-start}}
{{s-court}}
{{succession box|title=[[Master of the Queen's Music|Master of the King's Music]]|before=[[Maurice Greene (composer)|Maurice Greene]]|after=[[John Stanley (composer)|John Stanley]]|years=1755–1779}}
{{s-culture}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Joseph Kelway]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Organist of [[St Michael, Cornhill]]
|years=1736–1768}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Theodore Aylward Sr.]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyce, William}}
[[Category:1711 births]]
[[Category:1779 deaths]]
[[Category:English classical organists]]
[[Category:Deaf classical musicians]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Society of Musicians]]
[[Category:English classical composers of church music]]
[[Category:People educated at St. Paul's Cathedral School]]
[[Category:Pupils of Johann Christoph Pepusch]]
[[Category:Composers from London]]
[[Category:English male classical composers]]
[[Category:18th-century English classical composers]]
[[Category:18th-century English male musicians]]
[[Category:18th-century English composers]]
[[Category:18th-century English keyboardists]]
[[Category:Composers of masonic music]]
[[Category:English deaf people]]
[[Category:English opera composers]]
[[Category:Masters of the King's Music]]
[[Category:English male classical organists]]
[[Category:English Classical-period composers]]