William Inglott

William Inglott, also written Inglot (1553/4 - buried 31 December 1621) was an English organist and composer of the Elizabethan era, mostly associated with Norwich Cathedral. His father Edmund Inglott was the organist at Norwich Cathedral, and William retained a strong connection to the cathedral for the rest of his career - first as a chorister (1567–8), later as Lay Clerk from 1576 and Organist from 1587 to 1591.[3]

William Inglott
William Inglott's painted memorial on a pillar at Norwich Cathedral - the composer lies in state while two robed choristers look on holding bay wreaths; one holds a book of his compositions, the other an hourglass.[2]
Background information
BornBetween 1553 and 1554
Norwich, England
DiedDecember 1621 (aged 67); buried 31 December 1621
Norwich, England
GenresClassical music
Occupation(s)Composer, organist and virginalist

He moved to Hereford Cathedral as Master of the Choristers from 1597 until some time after 1610, but returned to Norwich as organist in 1611, replacing the composer Thomas Morley.[4]

William Inglott held the position until his death in December 1621, by which time he was 67. His painted memorial on a pillar in Norwich Cathedral records he was buried on 31 December of that year. The memorial shows two choristers bearing wreaths over his body and the following verse:

Here Willyam Inglott Organist doth rest,
Whose arte in musique this cathedrall blest,
For descant most, for voluntary all
He past: on organ, songe and virginall:
He left this life at age of sixtie seaven;
And now 'mongst angells all sings saint in heaven;
His fame flies farr, his name shal never die;
See art and age here crowne his memory.[5]

Ninety years after his death, the monument was restored at the expense of the composer William Croft.[6]

Surviving works

Few works by Inglott survive. Two keyboard pieces "The Leaves Bee Greene" and "A Galliard Ground" are preserved in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, an important collection of Elizabethan and Jacobean keyboard music with works by his contemporaries such as Thomas Morley, William Byrd and Martin Peerson. An untitled keyboard piece by 'Englitt' in Will Forster's Virginal Book (c.1624) at the British Library may also be his work.[7]

Inglott's Short Service for four voices was reconstructed by Michael Walsh from transcriptions by Richard Turbet in 1989.[8]

References
  1. A photograph of the whole monument can be seen here.
  2. A photograph of the whole monument can be seen here.
  3. Payne, Ian. "Inglott, William (1553/4–1621), organist and composer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  4. Le Huray, Peter (1978). Music and the Reformation in England 1549-1660. CUP Archive. p. 246.
  5. Browne, Philip (1785). An account of the Cathedral Church of Norwich, and its precincts, from its foundation to the present time. W. Chase & Company. p. 8.
  6. Lasocki, David (2018). "William Croft". A Biographical Dictionary of English Court Musicians, 1485-1714. 1. Routledge.
  7. "William Inglot(t)". HOASM. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  8. Inglott, William (1989). The Short Service. King's Music.

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