Adrian Batten (c1591 - c1637) was an English organist and Anglican church composer. He was active during an important period of English church music, between the Reformation and the Civil War in the 1640s. During this period the liturgical music of the first generations of Anglicans began to diverge significantly from music on the continent. Among the genres developed during this period by Batten and other Anglican composers was the “verse anthem,” in which sections alternate between the full choir and soloists, underlain and unified by an independent organ accompaniment. Composers who have made significant contributions to the repertory of Anglican church music. ... Anglican church music is music that is performed in Anglican church services. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ... The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between Parliamentarians (known as Roundheads) and Royalists (known as Cavaliers) from 1642 until 1651. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... Verse Anthem The verse anthem is a species of religious choral music distinct from the motet or full anthem (i. ...

Batten was born in Salisbury, and was a chorister and later an organ scholar at nearby Winchester Cathedral. He studied the organ under John Holmes. (The date of his birth is not known with certainty, but since John Holmes, Batten’s organ instructor, left that post in 1602 when his chorister pupil would have been about twelve years of age, Batten must have been born in about 1590. Most sources give the year as 1591.) Batten remained with the cathedral choir after his voice had changed, as evidenced by graffiti carved into the wall of Bishop Gardiner's chantry that reads "Adrian Battin: 1608". In 1614, Batten moved to London to become a Vicar Choral of Westminster Abbey, and was apparently still at Westminster in 1625; The Lord Chamberlain's Records for 1625 show that at the funeral of James I (at which Orlando Gibbons was organist and master of the music) Batten is described as a "singingman of Westminster." In 1626 Batten became a Vicar Choral of the cathedral choir at St. Paul's Cathedral, and also played the organ there. As far as is known, he stayed at this position until his untimely death. Letters of administration for the disposal of his estate were granted to John Gilbert of Salisbury (with the consent of Batten's three brothers) on July 22nd, 1637, so it can be inferred that he died during the middle of that year at the age of approximately 46.^[1] Salisbury (pronounced Solsbree or Sauls-bree) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England. ... Winchester Cathedral as seen from the Cathedral Close View along the nave of Winchester Cathedral to the west door A plan published in 1911 Winchester Cathedral in Winchester, Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England. ... The Abbeys western façade The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to as Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral (and indeed often considered one), in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. ... James VI and I (James Stuart) (June 19, 1566 – March 27, 1625) was King of Scots, King of England, and King of Ireland and was the first to style himself King of Great Britain. ... Orlando Gibbons Orlando Gibbons (baptised December 25, 1583 – June 5, 1625) was an English composer and organist of the late Tudor and early Jacobean periods. ... St Pauls Cathedral is a cathedral on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London in London, and the seat of the Bishop of London. ...

To augment his income while at Westminster Abbey, Batten worked as a music copyist, and the Abbey's account books record payments to Batten for copying works of Weelkes, Tallis and Tomkins. Batten is credited with the preservation of many pieces of church music of the time, compiled in the “Batten Organbook” (now in possession of St. Michael's College, Tenbury), a 498 page quarto in his handwriting. Containing many popular works of that time, which Batten scored for the organ, the Batten Organbook is the only surviving source for many pieces of the time. Thomas Weelkes (baptised 25 October 1576 – buried 1 December 1623) was an English composer and organist. ... Thomas Tallis Thomas Tallis (c 1505–23 November 1585) was an English composer. ... Thomas Tomkins (1572 – June 9, 1656) was a Welsh-born composer of the late Tudor and early Stuart period. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ...

The Batten Organbook has few of Batten’s own works, so ironically much of Batten's own music has been lost. Accordingly, Batten is less well known than some of his contemporaries. He was, however, a prolific composer. A number of works exist only in manuscript at various British libraries and cathedrals, having never been published.

Although by no means comparable with the work of the greatest of the English church musicians, Batten's music possesses charms of its own. Batten’s music has been described as follows: “It is serious and somewhat sad, but not altogether devoid of more joyous touches. His artistic sense was perhaps in excess of his technical powers, and his self-restraint makes of his work something very suitable to certain occasions. His counterpoint is skilful, and the atmosphere created by his music is a pure and devotional one… There is one virtue in Batten's sacred music which was possessed by only a few composers; and that is his constant endeavour to think of music as the servant of divine worship and not as the central figure of that service.”^[2]

Notes

1. ^ Jeffrey Pulver, A Biographical Dictionary of Old English Music (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1927) 46.
2. ^ Jeffrey Pulver, A Biographical Dictionary of Old English Music (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1927) 46.

References

• Andrew Ashbee, and Peter Holman, eds., Studies in English Consort Music Studies in English Consort Music (Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1996).
• David Henry, “Notes on Out of the Deep by Adrian Batten,” The Church of the Transfiguration, <http://www.littlechurch.org/mn020317.html> 3/17/2002).
• Jeffrey Pulver, A Biographical Dictionary of Old English Music (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1927).
• S. Sadie and George Grove, eds., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. (Oxford Univ. Press, 2000).

External links

Examples of Choral Works

• Us, O Lord Our God
• Thee, O God
• We Beseech Thee
• Praise the Lord
• Sing Joyfully