John Bennett (composer)
Encyclopedia
John Bennett was an English organ
ist and composer
.
. Beechey 1969 provides more detail than can be found in Groves
about him.
He has been referred to as the typical versatile eighteenth-century English musician, playing the organ, teaching the harpsichord
, playing the viola
, and performing at Drury Lane Theatre
as a singer in the chorus and as a ballet dancer. According to Mortimer’s The Universal Director (1763) he lived at Queen-square Bloomsbury
, and succeeded Charles Burney
as organist at St. Dionis-Backchurch, Fenchurch Street
, in 1752. Unfortunately the church was demolished in 1878.
An interesting aside for organists is the information provided in the church minutes for July 27, 1749:
". . . that the Salary of Organist be Thirty pounds p. Ann and that he be annually chose. . . .That the person who shall be chosen Organist shall attend in Person twice on every Sunday and on other usual Festivals, and to have no Deputy but in case of sickness."
Henry William Beechey suggested that in 1760 Bennett must have been suffering financial difficulty as he applied for a second organist’s post (with permission from St Dionis) which he was unsuccessful in gaining. It was common in that period for organists to serve more than one church simultaneously.
Five copies survive in the British Isles: in the British Museum, the Oxford University Faculty Library, the Euing Library at Glasgow University, the Gerald Finzi Collection at St. Andrews University, and the Shaw – Hellier Collection, The Wodehouse
near Wombourne
. The British Museum and the collection at Oxford contain the subscription list which lists no less than 227 names including Boyce, Stanley and George Fredrick Handel.
) and the appoggiatura.
The trill or shake
While the interpretation above is the standard one and should always be tried first, alternatives are indicated depending upon the context. Which involves taking into account both the speed and pitch of adjacent notes. If the music is fast the number of shakes will be reduced, or even converted to a modern day acciaccatura.
If the trill occurs in a descending passage Diack Johnston, (1966B) quotes the following additional interpretations:
The Beat (modern equivalent to the lower mordent)
For the beat you play the written note and the note (or half note, according to the key you play in) beneath it.
According to Diack Johnstone "this seems generally to be regarded as the exact inversion of the trill, beginning on the note below the principal note. However, several authorities table the beat as beginning on the principal note, and it is impossible to tell from the music which interpretation is intended.".
The Appoggiatura
This was interpreted the normal way taking half the value for a un-dotted note and two-thirds the value when the note is dotted. These occur frequently in Bennett in semi-quaver runs, in which case they are written out in full (indicating the editing by the use of a slur).
The voluntaries as teaching pieces
The voluntaries of Bennett provide excellent pieces for those just starting to learn the organ:
It must not also be forgotten that the pieces are also very pleasant, while most organists find them rather superficial most non organists find them particularly pleasant and refreshing to listen to.
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
ist and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Biography
Very little is known about him. The date of his birth is unknown. He died in September 1784, after serving as organist at St. Dionis Backchuch Fenchurch, London for over thirty years. He was a pupil of Johann Christoph PepuschJohann Christoph Pepusch
Johann Christoph Pepusch , also known as John Christopher Pepusch and Dr Pepusch, was a German-born composer who spent most of his working life in England....
. Beechey 1969 provides more detail than can be found in Groves
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
about him.
He has been referred to as the typical versatile eighteenth-century English musician, playing the organ, teaching the harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, playing the viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, and performing at Drury Lane Theatre
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
as a singer in the chorus and as a ballet dancer. According to Mortimer’s The Universal Director (1763) he lived at Queen-square Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury
-Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...
, and succeeded Charles Burney
Charles Burney
Charles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of authors Frances Burney and Sarah Burney.-Life and career:...
as organist at St. Dionis-Backchurch, Fenchurch Street
Fenchurch Street
Fenchurch Street is a street in the City of London home to a number of shops, pubs and offices. It links Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street to the west. To the south of Fenchurch Street and towards its eastern end is Fenchurch Street railway station...
, in 1752. Unfortunately the church was demolished in 1878.
An interesting aside for organists is the information provided in the church minutes for July 27, 1749:
". . . that the Salary of Organist be Thirty pounds p. Ann and that he be annually chose. . . .That the person who shall be chosen Organist shall attend in Person twice on every Sunday and on other usual Festivals, and to have no Deputy but in case of sickness."
Henry William Beechey suggested that in 1760 Bennett must have been suffering financial difficulty as he applied for a second organist’s post (with permission from St Dionis) which he was unsuccessful in gaining. It was common in that period for organists to serve more than one church simultaneously.
The 10 Voluntaries
The 10 Voluntaries for Organ or Harpsichord were published in 1758 since which time the voluntaries have been published a number of times. In the last fifty years various selections from them have seen the light of day. H. Diack Johnstone published numbers 9 and 10 in 1966 (Novello, London). Beechey published 2,5,7,8,9 10 in 1969 and Diack Johnstone also published 6 of them in 1988. A new edition has been published in 2002 of the entire set in Cambridge (UK).Five copies survive in the British Isles: in the British Museum, the Oxford University Faculty Library, the Euing Library at Glasgow University, the Gerald Finzi Collection at St. Andrews University, and the Shaw – Hellier Collection, The Wodehouse
The Wodehouse
The Wodehouse is a country house near Wombourne, Staffordshire, notable as the seat of the Georgian landscape designer and musicologist Sir Samuel Hellier and, a century later, Colonel Thomas Bradney Shaw-Hellier, director of the Royal Military School of Music. For almost 200 years the family...
near Wombourne
Wombourne
Wombourne is a very large village and civil parish located in the district of South Staffordshire, in the county of Staffordshire, 4 miles south-west of Wolverhampton. Local affairs are run by a parish council. At the 2001 census it had a population of 13,691...
. The British Museum and the collection at Oxford contain the subscription list which lists no less than 227 names including Boyce, Stanley and George Fredrick Handel.
Ornamentation of the ten voluntaries
In this section three ornaments will be considered, the trill (shake), the Beat (modern equivalent the lower mordentMordent
In music, a mordent is an ornament indicating that the note is to be played with a single rapid alternation with the note above or below. Like trills, they can be chromatically modified by a small flat, sharp or natural accidental...
) and the appoggiatura.
The trill or shake
While the interpretation above is the standard one and should always be tried first, alternatives are indicated depending upon the context. Which involves taking into account both the speed and pitch of adjacent notes. If the music is fast the number of shakes will be reduced, or even converted to a modern day acciaccatura.
If the trill occurs in a descending passage Diack Johnston, (1966B) quotes the following additional interpretations:
The Beat (modern equivalent to the lower mordent)
For the beat you play the written note and the note (or half note, according to the key you play in) beneath it.
According to Diack Johnstone "this seems generally to be regarded as the exact inversion of the trill, beginning on the note below the principal note. However, several authorities table the beat as beginning on the principal note, and it is impossible to tell from the music which interpretation is intended.".
The Appoggiatura
This was interpreted the normal way taking half the value for a un-dotted note and two-thirds the value when the note is dotted. These occur frequently in Bennett in semi-quaver runs, in which case they are written out in full (indicating the editing by the use of a slur).
The voluntaries as teaching pieces
The voluntaries of Bennett provide excellent pieces for those just starting to learn the organ:
- The frequent manual changes provide experience in using multiple manuals
- The slow movements provide practice in part playing
- The fast movements provide experience in articulation and ornamentation
It must not also be forgotten that the pieces are also very pleasant, while most organists find them rather superficial most non organists find them particularly pleasant and refreshing to listen to.