William Croft

An English composer and organist of some note having succeeded John Blow as organist at Westminster Abbey. William Croft received the Doctorate of Music from Oxford and became the Chapel Royal composer to the court of Queen Anne. It is thought that he published "Musicus apparatus academicus" in response to a threat that Handel might usurp his station. The corpus of Croft's compositions included a number of services, anthems, instrumental sonatas and an organ voluntary. In collaboration with Blow, Piggott, Clarke and Barrett he published "Ayres for the Harpsichord or Spinnett". None of Croft's music was pretentious and his personal demeanor was reflected in his scores. He had an admiration for past polyphony and an understanding of the Baroque character. When he employed a particular style of music he would not complicate the musical piece by trying to conflate the chosen style with others. ~ Keith Johnson