William Boyce (composer)

William Boyce (baptised 11 September 1711 – d. 7 February 1779) was an English composer and organist.

William Boyce (attributed to Mason Chamberlin (1727–1787))

Life

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.[1]

His first professional appointment came in 1734 when he was employed as an organist at the 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 1755 and becoming one of the organists at the Chapel Royal in 1758. One of his students was the prodigy Thomas Linley.

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.

Legacy

Boyce is known for his eight symphonies, his anthems and his odes. He wrote the masque Peleus and Thetis and set John Dryden's Secular Masque. He produced incidental music for William Shakespeare's The Tempest, Cymbeline, Romeo and Juliet and The Winter's Tale, and a quantity of chamber music, notably a fine set of twelve trio sonatas.[2] Boyce also composed music for masonic rituals[3] and the song "Heart of Oak" for performances of David Garrick's 1759 play Harlequin's Invasion; the song has been adapted for use as a British and Canadian Naval March.

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 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). 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.[4]

Boyce's portraits were painted by Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Hudson. He was drawn and engraved by John Keyse Sherwin, and a vignette made by Drayton after Robert Smirke.[5]

His only son, also William Boyce (25 March 1764 – 1824), was a professional double bass player.[6]

On 7 February 1779 Boyce died from an attack of gout. He was buried under the dome of St Paul's Cathedral.[7]

Works

Vocal music

Services

Te Deum, G major, verse service (ca. 1725)
Te Deum and Jubilate, A major, verse service (ca. 1740)
Te Deum and Jubilate, A major, short service (ca. 1750)
Burial Service, E minor, 4 voices (1751) for Captain T. Coram, 3 April 1751; ed. by J. Page, in Harmonia sacra, London, 1800
Te Deum and Jubilate, C major, full service (ca. 1760)
Kyrie, A major (????)
Sanctus, A/G major (????)

Anthems

Begin unto my God with timbrels, verse (1769 or earlier, lost) text published in A Collection of Anthems used in His Majesty's Chapel Royal, London, 1769
Behold O God our defender, full (1761) for the coronation of George III, 1761
Be thou my judge, O Lord, verse (1749 or earlier)
Blessed is he that considereth the poor, verse (????)
Blessed is he that considereth the sick, verse, with orchestra (1741; pub. London, 1802)
Blessed is the man that ferrets the Lord, verse (1736 or earlier)
Blessing and glory, verse (1769 or earlier)
By the waters of Babylon, verse (ca. 1740)
Come, Holy Ghost, full (1761) for the coronation of George III, 1761
Give the king thy judgements, verse (ca. 1740)
Give the king thy judgements, verse (ca. 1760)
Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, verse (1736 or earlier)
Great and marvellous are thy works, full (1769 or earlier, lost) text published in A Collection of Anthems used in His Majesty's Chapel Royal, London, 1769
Hear my crying, verse (ca. 1740)
Hear my prayer, full, with orchestra (ca. 1760)
The heavens declare the glory of God, verse (????)
Help me, O Lord, full (1726)
How long wilt thou forget me, verse (1736 or earlier)
How long wilt thou forget me, verse, incomplete (ca. 1740)
I cried unto the Lord, verse (1736 or earlier)
If we believe, verse (ca, 1745)
I have set God alway before me, verse (1749 or earlier)
I have surely built thee an house, verse (1759) for reopening of St Margaret's, Westminster, 1759
I was glad, full (1761) for the coronation of George III, 1761
I will alway give thanks, verse (1736 or earlier)
I will magnify thee, O God, verse (1749 or earlier) ed. by J. Page, in Harmonia sacra, London, 1800
The King shall rejoice, verse, with orchestra (1761) for the marriage of George III, 1761; ed. in Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era, viii, 1970
The King shall rejoice, full, with orchestra (1761) for the coronation of George III, 1761
The King shall rejoice, verse, with orchestra (1766) for the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy, 1766
Let my complaint come before thee, verse (1736 or earlier) ed. by J. Page, in Harmonia sacra, London, 1800
Let my prayer come up, full (1761) for , coronation of George III, 1761
Like as the hart, verse (ca. 1740)
The Lord is a sun and a shield, full, with orchestra (1761) for the coronation of George III, 1761
The Lord is full of compassion, verse (1736 or earlier)
The Lord is King and hath put on glorious apparel, verse (1736 or earlier)
The Lord is King be the people never so impatient, verse (1763) for thanksgiving for the Peace of Paris, 1763
The Lord is my light and my salvation, verse (1749 or earlier)
The Lord liveth, verse (1769 or earlier)
Lord, teach us to number our days, verse (ca. 1750)
Lord, thou hast been our refuge, verse, with orchestra (1755; pub. London, 1802) for Festival of the Sons of the Clergy, 1755
Lord, what is man that thou art mindful of him, verse (ca. 1740)
Lord, what is man that thou shouldest visit him, verse (ca. 1770)
Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle, verse (1749 or earlier)
My heart is fixed, verse (1749 or earlier, lost) text published in A Collection of Anthems used in His Majesty's Chapel Royal, London, 1769
My heart is inditing, verse, with orchestra (1761) for the coronation of George III, 1761
My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, verse (1769 or earlier, lost) text published in A Collection of Anthems used in His Majesty's Chapel Royal, London, 1769
O be joyful in God all ye lands, verse (ca. 1735)
O be joyful in God all ye lands, verse (1736 or earlier)
O be jovful in God all ye lands, verse, with orchestra (1749; pub. London, 1752)
O give thanks unto the Lord and call upon His name, verse (1736 or earlier)
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious, verse (1762) for the birth of Prince George, 1762
O praise the Lord, verse (ca. 1763)
O sing unto the Lord a new song, verse (ca. 1740)
O sing unto the Lord a new song, verse (1749 or earlier, lost) text published in A Collection of Anthems used in His Majesty's Chapel Royal, London, 1769
O where shall wisdom be found?, verse (1769 or earlier)
Ponder my words, verse (1745 or earlier)
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem, full, with orchestra (1761) for the coronation of George III, 1761
Praise the Lord, ye servants, verse (1749 or earlier)
Save me, O God, full (ca. 1735)
Sing, O heavens, verse (ca. 1763)
Sing praises unto the Lord, verse (1736 or earlier)
Sing unto the Lord (????)
The souls of the righteous, full, with orchestra (1760) for the funeral of George II, 1760 [Ov. pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957; complete ed. in Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era, vii, 1970]
Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, verse (1736 or earlier)
Turn thee unto me, full (1736 or earlier)
Turn thee unto me, verse (1749 or earlier)
Unto thee, O Lord, verse (1749 or earlier, lost) text published in A Collection of Anthems used in His Majesty's Chapel Royal, London, 1769
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way, verse (1749 or earlier)

Chants and hymns

Double Psalm Chant, D major (????)
Double Psalm Chant, F major (????)
Chant, D major, Divine Harmony (1770) doubtful, attributed to Mr. Davis
Faint is my head and sick my heart (????)
Hosanna to the King (????)
How long O my God shall I plead (????)
I’ll celebrate thy praises, Lord (????)
Lord, how my bosom foes increase (????)
The Lord my pasture shall prepare (????)
The Lord does them support that fall (????)
The man is blest of God through Christ (????)
O God who dost for ever live (????)
Servant of God, well done (????)
To the call of pressing need (????)
Weigh the words of my profession (????)
When rising from the bed of death (????)
To Sion’s hill I lift my eyes (????)

Other sacred works

David's Lamentation over Saul and Jonathan, sacred cantata, solo voices, chorus, orchestra (1736) (text: J. Lockman)
Lo! On the Thorny bed of care (????)
Noah: An oratorio (????, lost)
Vital spark of heavenly repair (????)
Hither, ye sons of harmony repair ('Monumental inscription to the memory of Mr. Gostling, late minor canon of the Cathedral of Canterbury'), 4 voices and basso continuo (ca. 1777) (text: J. Hawkins)
O how perverse is flesh and blood, partsong (ca. 1725)
also 12 hymns published in 18th-century anthologies

Theatre works

Peleus and Thetis, masque (by 1740) (text: G. Granville, Lord Lansdowne) [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
Secular Masque (1745; fp. 1750) (text: J. Dryden) [Ov. pub. as Overture No. 6 in 12 Overtures, 1770]
The Chaplet, musical entertainment in 2 parts (fp. 1749) (text: M. Mendez) [Overture pub. as Symphony No. 3 in 8 Symphonys, 1760]
The Shepherd's Lottery, musical entertainment in 2 parts (fp. 1751) (text: M. Mendez) [Overture pub. as Symphony No. 4 in 8 Symphonys, 1760]
The Tempest, masque (fp. 1757) (text: D. Garrick, after Shakespeare)
Harlequin's Invasion, or A Christmas Gambol, pantomime (fp. 1759) (text: Garrick) a collaboration with M. Arne and T. Aylward

Music in other theatre works

Dirge (in Cymbeline, tragedy; Shakespeare) (1746)
2 Songs (in Lethe, or Aesop in the Shades, farce; D. Garrick) (1749)
Instrumental music (in The Roman Father, tragedy; W. Whitehead) (1750, lost)
Pastoral interlude (in The Rehearsal, or Bays in Petticoats, comedy; Clive (1750)
Dirge (in Romeo and Juliet, tragedy; Garrick, after Shakespeare) (1750)
Song (in The Conscious Lovers, comedy; R. Steele) (ca. 1752)
Song (in The Gamester, tragedy; E. Moore) (Feb 1753)
Instrumental music (in Boadicea, tragedy; R. Glover) (1753, lost)
Music for animating the statue, 3-pt song (in Florizel and Perdita, or The Winter's Tale, comedy; Garrick, after Shakespeare) (1756)
2 Songs, duet (in Amphitryon, comedy; J. Hawkesworth, after J. Dryden) (1756)
2 Odes (in Agis, tragedy; J. Home) (1758)
Other songs by Boyce adapted in: The Temple of Peace (1749); Midas (1762); Love in the Village (1762); The Royal Chase (ca. 1765); The Summer's Tale (1765); The Disappointment, or The Force of Credulity (1767); Tom Jones (1769); Harlequin's Museum, or Mother Shipton Triumphant (1792)

Court odes

Pierian sisters hail the morn, ode for the King's Birthday, 1755 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
Hail! hail! auspicious day, ode for New Year's Day, 1756 [Overture pub. as Symphony No. 1 in 8 Symphonys, 1760]
When Caesar's natal day, ode for the King's Birthday, 1756 [Overture pub. as Symphony No. 2 in 8 Symphonys, 1760]
While Britain, in her monarch blest, ode for New Year's Day, 1757
Rejoice, ye Britons, hail the day!, ode for the King's Birthday, 1757
Behold, the circle forms! prepare!, ode for New Year's Day, 1758 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
When Othbert left the Italian plain, ode for the King's Birthday, 1758 [Ov. pub. as Overture No. 7 in 12 Overtures, 1770, with music from 1765 New Year's ode; also in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
Ye guardian powers, to whose command, ode for New Year's Day, 1759 [1st 2 mvts of overture the same as those of Behold, the circle forms, 1758]
Begin the song – ye subject choirs, ode for the King's Birthday, 1759
Again the sun's revolving sphere, ode for New Year's Day, 1760 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
Still must the muse, indignant hear, ode for New Year's Day, 1761
'Twas at the nectar'd feast of Jove, ode for the King's Birthday, 1761 [Ov. pub. as Overture No. 8 in 12 Overtures, 1770]
God of slaughter, quit the scene, ode for New Year's Day, 1762 [Ov. pub. as Overture No. 5 in 12 Overtures, 1770]
Go, Flora, said the impatient queen, ode for the King's Birthday, 1762 [Ov. pub. as Overture No. 1 in 12 Overtures, 1770]
At length the imperious lord of war, ode for New Year's Day, 1763 [Ov. pub. as Overture No. 3 in 12 Overtures, 1770]
Common births, like common things, ode for the King's Birthday, 1763
To wedded love the song shall flow, ode for the King's Birthday, 1764 [Ov. pub. as Overture No. 10 in 12 Overtures, 1770]
Sacred to thee, O commerce, ode for New Year's Day, 1765 [Ov. pub. as Overture No. 7 in 12 Overtures, 1770, with music from 1758 Birthday ode]
Hail to the rosy morn, ode for the King's Birthday, 1765 [Ov. pub. as Overture No. 2 in 12 Overtures, 1770]
Hail to the man, so sings the Hebrew bard, ode for the King's Birthday, 1766 [Ov. pub. as Overture No. 11 in 12 Overtures, 1770]
When first the rude o’erpeopled north, ode for New Year's Day, 1767 [Ov. pub. as Overture No. 12 in 12 Overtures, 1770]
Friend to the poor! for sure, O king, ode for the King's Birthday, 1767
Let the voice of music breathe, ode for New Year's Day, 1768 [Ov. pub. as Overture No. 9 in 12 Overtures, 1770]
Prepare, prepare your songs of praise, ode for the King's Birthday, 1768 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
Patron of arts! at length by thee, ode for the King's Birthday, 1769 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
Forward, Janus, turn thine eyes, ode for New Year's Day, 1770 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
Discord, hence! the torch resign, ode for the King's Birthday, 1770 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
Again returns the circling year, ode for New Year's Day, 1771 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
Long did the churlish East detain, ode for the King's Birthday, 1771 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
At length the fleeting year is o’er, ode for New Year's Day, 1772 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
From scenes of death, and deep distress, ode for the King's Birthday, 1772 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
Wrapt in stole of sable train, ode for New Year's Day, 1773
Born for millions are the kings, ode for the King's Birthday, 1773
Pass but a few short fleeting years, ode for New Year's Day, 1774
Hark! or does the muse's ear, ode for the King's Birthday, 1774
Ye powers, who rule o’er states and kings, ode for the King's Birthday, 1775 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
On the white rocks which guard her coast, ode for New Year's Day, 1776
Ye western gales, whose genial breath, ode for the King's Birthday, 1776
Again imperial winter's sway, ode for New Year's Day, 1777 [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
Driven out from heaven’s ethereal domes, ode for the King's Birthday, 1777
When rival nations great in arms, ode for New Year's Day, 1778
Arm’d with her native force, behold, ode for the King's Birthday, 1778
To arms, to arms ye sons of might, ode for New Year's Day, 1779 [overture same as Pierian sisters, 1755; pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]

Other odes

The charms of harmony display, ode for St Cecilia's Day, ca. 1738 (text: P. Vidal) [Overture pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
See fam’d Apollo and the Nine, ode for St Cecilia's Day, 1739 (text: J. Lockman) [Overture pub. as Symphony No. 5 in 8 Symphonys, 1760; also pub. in Musica Britannica, vol. 13, 1957]
Gentle lyre, begin the strain (1740) (text: The Pythian Ode; W. Hart, after Pindar) [Overture pub. as Symphony No. 7 in 8 Symphonys, 1760]
Here all thy active fires diffuse, ode for the installation of Duke of Newcastle as Chancellor of University of Cambridge (1749) (text: W. Mason)
Strike, strike the lyre, ode for the birthday of Frederick, Prince of Wales, 1750?
Who but remembers yesterday (Britain's Isle), ode on the death of Frederick, Prince of Wales, 1751
Let grief subside, ode for the birthday of George, Prince of Wales, 1751
Another passing year is flown, ode for the birthday of George, Prince of Wales, 1752 (text: W. Harvard)
Titles and ermine fall behind, ode in commemoration of Shakespeare, Drury Lane, 1756 (text: Havard)
Cetra de canti amica, ode (1757) in Del canzoniere d'Orazio di Giovan Gualberto Bottarelli (1757)
Degli amor la madre altera, ode (1757) in Del canzoniere d'Orazio di Giovan Gualberto Bottarelli (1757)
Arise, immortal Shakespeare rise (1759?) (text: D. Garrick)
See, white-robed peace, ode for the Seven Years War, 1763 (text: D. Mallet)
Lo, on the thorny bed of care (Ode to Charity), soli, chorus and orch, sacred ode for Leicester Infirmary, 1774 (text: J. Cradock)
Vital spark of heavenly flame (The Dying Christian to his Soul), sacred ode (????) (text: A. Pope)
In elder time, ode (????, lost)

Cantatas, serenades and dialogues

Ah whither, whither would Achilles flee (Deidamia’s parting with Achilles upon the siege of Troy), voice and orchestra (ca. 1735)
Through flowery meads, cantata, 2 voices and orchestra (ca. 1735)
Gentle zephyrs smoothly rove, serenade, voice and orchestra (ca. 1735)
When the celestial beauties strove, cantata, 2 voices (ca. 1735)
Young Damon, fired with amorous heat, cantata, 2 voices (ca. 1735)
Solomon, serenata, 2 voices, chorus and orchestra (1743) (text: E. Moore) [Ov. pub. as Sym No. 6 in 8 Symphonys, 1760] complete ed. in Musica Britannica, vol. 68
Long with undistinguished flame, cantata (????) (text: C. Smart) in Lyra britannica, vol. 1, London, 1747
Tell me ye brooks, cantata (????) (text: W. Congreve) in Lyra britannica, ii, London, 1747
Blest in Maria's friendship, cantata (????) in Lyra britannica, iii, London, 1748
Let rakes for pleasure range the town (Johnny and Jenny), dialogue, 2 voices (1748) (text: Moore)
Did you not once, Lucinda vow, dialogue, 2 voices and orchestra (ca. 1750)
Thus on a bed of dew bespangled flowers (Thyrsis), cantata (ca. 1750)
By Danae’s progeny (Danae), cantata, voice and orchestra (ca. 1750)
Blate Jonny (A Scots Cantata) (ca. 1756) (text: A. Ramsay) in Lyra britannica, v, London, 1756
Haste, haste every nymph, dialogue, voice and orchestra (ca. 1759) in Lyra britannica, vi, London, 1759
Thou rising sun (The Lapland Cantata) (ca. 1759) (text: A. Philips) in Lyra britannica, vi, London, 1759
The inconstant swain (????, lost)

Glees, catches and rounds

A blooming youth
Genius of harmony
Glory be to God on high
Hallelujah
Here’s to thee Dick
John Cooper
Long live King George
'Mongst other roses
’Tis on earth
’Tis thus, thus and thus farewell

Solo songs

Again to the garden
Age in LB, vol. 1, London, 1747
Ah Chloe! thou treasure
Ah whither, whither would Achilles flee
Alas how slowly minutes roll
Amaz'd, their unfrequented fanes in LB, vol. 2, London, 1747
As Damon stood in pensive mood in LB, vol. 2, London, 1747
As Phillis the gay
As Thyrsis reclined
At Ross how alter’d is the scene!
Beneath my feet when Flora cast (????, lost)
Bid me when forty winters more
Boast not mistaken swain
Can nothing, nothing move her
Castalio’s Complaint (set to musick by Mr. Boyce) in Calliope, 1739
Cease vainglorious swain
Come all ye young lovers
Come all ye youths
The Distracted Lover in Calliope, 1739
Each hour Mariana
Fair Eliza beauteous creature
The flame of love
Flora, goddess sweetly blooming
Go, virgin kid
Goddess of ease
The heavenly hours are almost past
How blest has my time been, first version
How blest has my time been, second version
How hard is the fortune of all womankind, 2 voices and b.c. in LB, vol. 1, London, 1747
How wretched is a maiden’s fate
I looked, and I sighed
I love, I doat, first version
I love, I doat, second version
If you my wand’ring heart would find
In vain Philander
In vain would honour love undo!
Jessy, or The happy pair in LB, vol. 2, London, 1747
Long detained by winds contrary
Lost to the joys of life is he in LB, vol. 2, London, 1747
Love bids me go
Love’s no irregular desire
The man that says Dick Leveridge stinks
The Modest Petition (words by T. Phillips) in Calliope, 1739
My Florio
Near Thames’ green banks
Near to the silent shady grove
No more shall meads
The nymph that I loved
O nightingale
Of all the torments, all the cares (The rival or desponding lover) in Calliope, 1739
Of roses, while I wove
Oft’ am I by the women told
On a bank beside a willow
On thy banks, gentle Stour, song in LB, vol. 1, London, 1747
One summer’s morning
Parent of blooming flowers (lost)
Rail no more ye learned asses
The ravish'd lover (When Fanny blooming fair), song (text: T. Phillips)
Saw you Phoebe pass this way
She’s blest with wit
The silent lover in LB, vol. 1, London, 1747
Silvia the fair (Fair Silvia) in Calliope, 1739
Since I with Chloe last was seen
Since nature mankind for society fram’d, part song in LB, vol. 2, London, 1747
The song of Diana (With horns and with hounds), voice and b.c. (from Dryden’s Secular Masque) in LB, vol. 1, London, 1747
The song of Momus to Mars (The sword within the scabbard keep), voice and b.c. (from Dryden’s Secular Masque) in LB, vol. 1, London, 1747'
The song of Venus in LB, vol. 1, London, 1747
Song sent with a lady's kid glove in LB, vol. 2, London, 1747
The sun now darts fainter his rays
Tell me lovely loving pair
Tell me no more I am deceiv’d, song in LB, vol. 1, London, 1747
Tell me, ye brooks, where can my darling hide? in LB, vol. 2, London, 1747
Tho’ Chloe’s out of fashion
To Harriote all accomplished fair
To make the wife kind, and to keep the house still (The Happy Happy He), song (1748) (text: Moore)
To sooth my heart
’Twas summer time
Venus to sooth my heart
Well-judging Phyllis in LB, vol. 1, London, 1747
What though you cannot move her
When Chloe frowning bids me go
When Fanny/Cloe, blooming fair
When first on her my eyes were thrown
When I but dream of her
When mariners long wind-bound
When Orpheus went down
When the nymphs were contending
When young and artless as the lamb
While on my Colin’s knee I sit
Who but remembers yesterday
Why treat me still with cold disdain?
Would we attain the happiest state
You say you love
Young Phillis, one morning

LB – Lyra britannica, being a collection of songs, duets, and cantatas, on various subjects (J. Walsh, 1747)

Calliope – Calliope, or English Harmony. A Collection, 1739

Instrumental music

Orchestra

8 Symphonys in 8 Parts, op. 2 (pub. London, 1760) overtures from other odes and theater works
- - Symphony No. 1, B-flat major, 2 oboes, strings & b.c. [Overture to ode for the New Year, 1756]
  - Symphony No. 2, A major, 2 oboes, strings & b.c. [Overture to ode for the King’s Birthday, 1756]
  - Symphony No. 3, C major, 2 oboes, strings & b.c. [Overture to The Chaplet, pastoral opera, 1749]
  - Symphony No. 4, F major, 2 oboes, 2 horns, 2 bassoons, strings & b.c. [Overture to Shepherd’s Lottery, pastoral opera, 1751]
  - Symphony No. 5, D major, 2 oboes, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings & b.c. [Overture to ode for St. Cecilia's Day, 1739]
  - Symphony No. 6, F major, 2 oboes, strings & b.c. [Overture to Solomon, serenata, 1742]
  - Symphony No. 7, B-flat major, 2 oboes, strings & b.c. [Overture to the Pythian Ode, 1740–41]
  - Symphony No. 8, D minor, 2 oboes, strings & b.c. [Worcester Overture]
12 Overtures in 7, 9, 10 and 12 Parts (pub. London, 1770) overtures from other odes and theater works
- - No. 1, D major, 2 oboes, strings & b.c. [Overture to ode for the King’s Birthday, 1762]
  - No. 2, G major, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, bassoon, strings & b.c. [Overture to ode for the King’s Birthday, 1765]
  - No. 3, B-flat major, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons (opt.), strings & b.c. [Overture to ode for New Year’s Day, 1763]
  - No. 4, D major, 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings & b.c.
  - No. 5, F major, 2 oboes, strings & b.c. [Overture to ode for New Year’s Day, 1762, with new 2nd mvt]
  - No. 6, D minor, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings & b.c. [Overture to Secular Masque’’, 1745]
  - No. 7, G major, 2 oboes, strings & b.c. [taken from both ode for the King’s Birthday, 1758, and ode for New Year’s Day, 1765]
  - No. 8, D major, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings & b.c. [Overture to ode for the King’s Birthday, 1761]
  - No. 9, A major, 2 oboes, strings & b.c. [Overture to ode for New Year’s Day, 1768]
  - No. 10, F major, 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, strings & b.c. [Overture to ode for the King’s Birthday, 1764]
  - No. 11, D major, 2 oboes, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings & b.c. [Overture to ode for the King’s Birthday, 1766]
  - No. 12, G major, 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, strings & b.c. [Overture to ode for New Year’s Day, 1767]
Concerto, D minor (The Worcester Overture) (????) [pub. as Symphony No. 8 in 8 Symphonys, 1760]
Concerto grosso, B minor (????)
3 Concerti grossi, B-flat major, D minor (incomplete), E minor (????)
Concerto, bassoon (1742, lost) performed at Castle Tavern, London, 11 Aug 1742

Instrumental

3 Sonatas, 2 violins and basso continuo (ca. 1740)
Overture, C major (ca. 1740) keyboard score only
12 Sonatas, 2 violins, cello, harpsichord (pub. London, 1747)
10 voluntaries, organ/harpsichord (pub. London, 1779)

References

Bruce (2005)
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Boyce, William" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Hill, Cecil (1980). "Masonic music", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, vol. 11, 753–756
"The Official Order of Service for the Wedding of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle" (PDF). British royal family. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
"Boyce, William". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
British musical biography (Birmingham: S.S. Stratton, 1897) p. 56.
Bruce (2005)

Sources

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. 2001. "Boyce, William". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
Bruce, Robert J. 2005. "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]
Kenyon, Nicholas. 1978–79. "William Boyce (1711–1779)" Music and Musicians 27, no. 6:24–27.
Bartlett, Ian and Robert J. Bruce. 2011. "William Boyce: a tercentenary sourcebook and compendium". Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

External links

Works written by or about William Boyce at Wikisource
William Boyce at the Encyclopædia Britannica
Free scores by William Boyce (composer) in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
Free scores by William Boyce (composer) at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
William Boyce – biography
William Boyce's "Solomon" (Oxford Journals – Music and Letters)
Portraits of Boyce (National Portrait Gallery, London)

Court offices
Preceded by Maurice Greene	Master of the King's Music 1755–1779	Succeeded by John Stanley
Cultural offices
Preceded by Joseph Kelway	Organist of St Michael, Cornhill 1736–1768	Succeeded by Theodore Aylward Sr.

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[1] Bruce (2005)

[EB_1911-2] Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Boyce, William" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

[3] Hill, Cecil (1980). "Masonic music", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, vol. 11, 753–756

[4] Hill, Cecil (1980). "Masonic music", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, vol. 11, 753–756

[4] "The Official Order of Service for the Wedding of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle" (PDF). British royal family. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2019.

[5] "Boyce, William". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

[6] British musical biography (Birmingham: S.S. Stratton, 1897) p. 56.

[7] Bruce (2005)