(fl Castleton, Derbys., 1723–53). English psalmodist and ?composer. In 1723 he published the first edition of A Book of Psalmody in conjunction with John Barber. A second edition, by Robert Barber alone, followed in 1733, and a third, entitled David’s Harp Well Tuned, in 1753. He also published The Psalm Singer’s Choice Companion in 1727. A Book of Psalmody enjoyed a good deal of popularity in the north Midlands. It was similar to other parochial collections, and most of its contents were derivative. The second edition, however, had a remarkable feature: it included, as well as chants for the canticles, a complete musical setting of Morning Prayer, litany and ante-communion on cathedral lines, but for alto, tenor and bass only. Barber made it clear on the title-page that this was designed for ‘our Country Churches’. He thus brought to its logical conclusion the trend begun by Henry Playford, who published anthems for parish church use in The Divine Companion (1701), and John Chetham, who printed chants in his Book of Psalmody (1718). The anthem By the rivers of Babylon, attributed to Barber and first printed in his 1723 collection, is one of the finest examples of country church music of the period.
N. Temperley: The Music of the English Parish Church (Cambridge, 1979), i, 193; ii, exx.31, 34
NICHOLAS TEMPERLEY