
Greene, Maurice
Biography
Greene, Maurice (Born; London, 12 Aug 1696; Died; there, 1 Dec 1755). English composer and organist. After working as a church organist in London, he succeeded to every major musical post in England, becoming organist at St Paul's Cathedral (1718), organist and composer of the Chapel Royal (1727) and Master of the King's Musick (1735). He was also professor of music at Cambridge, and active in groups including the Academy of Ancient Music; later he set up the Apollo Academy as a rival. With Festing he founded the Royal Society of Musicians in 1738. His project to issue a collection of church music, ancient and modern, was unfinished at his death (Boyce carried it through).Greene is remembered chiefly for his church music, including Circa; 100 anthems (mostly of the verse and solo types) and several services and canticles. He also wrote three oratorios (notably The Song of Deborah and Barak, 1732), an Ode for St Cecilia's Day (1730), 35 court odes, two dramatic pastorals, various cantatas, songs etc and attractive keyboard suites. His large-scale works include dramatic touches and simple but monumental effects; his style is generally Baroque and italianate, with both contrapuntal material and fluent melodic writing.
© Groves Dictionaries, MacMillan Publishers Limited, UK
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