Bateson, Thomas

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Bateson, Thomas

Bateson, Thomas, English composer; b. Cheshire County; d. probably in Dublin, March 1630. He was organist at Chester Cathedral from 1599 to 1609. In 1609 he became vicar choral and organist of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Dublin. He is said to have been the first music graduate of Trinity Coll., earning his Mus.B. in 1612 and his M.A. in 1622. As a composer, Bateson is especially noted for his madrigals, although they are regarded as inferior to those by Morley or Weelkes. In 1604 he publ. a collection of 29 madrigals for 3 to 6 voices; it included the madrigal When Oriana walked to take the ayre, orig. intended for publication in Morley’s Triumphs of Oriana. A second set of 30 madrigals was publ. in 1618. Both sets are reprinted in The English Madrigal School (vols. 21-22), ed. by E.H. Fellowes.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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