Maurice Greene (1696 – 1755) was an English composer
and organist. Born in London, the son of a clergyman,
he became a choirboy at St Paul's Cathedral under
Jeremiah Clarke and Charles King. He studied the organ
under Richard Brind, and after Brind died, Greene
became organist at St Paul's.
With the death of William Croft in 1727, Greene became
organist at the Chapel Royal, and in 1730 he became
Professor of Music at Cambridge University. In 1735 he
was appointed Master of the King's ...(+)
Maurice Greene (1696 – 1755) was an English composer
and organist. Born in London, the son of a clergyman,
he became a choirboy at St Paul's Cathedral under
Jeremiah Clarke and Charles King. He studied the organ
under Richard Brind, and after Brind died, Greene
became organist at St Paul's.
With the death of William Croft in 1727, Greene became
organist at the Chapel Royal, and in 1730 he became
Professor of Music at Cambridge University. In 1735 he
was appointed Master of the King's Musick. At his
death, Greene was working on the compilation Cathedral
Music, which his student and successor as Master of the
King's Musick, William Boyce, was to complete. Many
items from that collection are still used in Anglican
services today.
He wrote very competent music in the Georgian style,
particularly long Verse Anthems. His acknowledged
masterpiece, Lord, let me know mine end, is a
representative example. Greene sets a text full of
pathos using a polyphonic texture over a continuous
instrumental walking bass, with a particularly
effective treble duet in the middle of the work. Both
this section and the end of the anthem contain superb
examples of the Neapolitan sixth chord.
In music a voluntary is a piece of music, usually for
an organ, that is played as part of a church service.
The title 'voluntary' was often used by English
composers during the late Renaissance, Baroque, and
Classical periods. Originally, the term was used for a
piece of organ music that was free in style, and was
meant to sound improvised (the word voluntary in
general means "proceeding from the will or from one's
own choice or consent"). This probably grew out of the
practice of church organists improvising after a
service.
Later, the voluntary began to develop into a more
definite form, though it has never been strictly
defined. During the late 17th century, a 'voluntary'
was typically written in a fugal or imitative style,
often with different sections. In the 18th century the
form typically began with a slow movement and then a
fugue. Two to four movements were common, with
contrasting tempos (slow-fast-slow-fast). In the 18th
century England, the word 'voluntary' and 'fuge' were
interchangeable. These English style 'fuges' (or fugue)
do not follow the strict theoretic form of German-style
fugues. They are more related to the 'fugues' written
by Italian composers of the time.
Besides the fugal type of voluntary, two other common
forms developed: the trumpet voluntary and the cornet
voluntary. These two were usually non-fugal, but still
contained movements with contrasting tempos. These
voluntaries were meant to feature the stops for which
they are named. One very long example of this form of
voluntary was written by Pepusch, and has 13 total
movements. Several of the movements are named after
organ solo stops or mixtures (bassoon, cornet, trumpet,
sesquialtera, flute, twelfth, etc.).
Many composers wrote voluntaries, including Orlando
Gibbons, John Blow, Henry Purcell, William Boyce, John
Stanley, Handel and Thomas Arne. Often, when English
music printers published continental organ music, they
would, by default, title the works as 'voluntaries',
though the word was not used by composers in mainland
Europe. Typically, these continental works were fugues
or other imitative forms.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Greene_(composer
)).
Although originally composed for Organ, I created this
interpretation of the Voluntary in D Major for Bb
Piccolo Trumpet & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
SHEET MUSIC