CROFT, WILLIAM

(baptized 30 December 1678, Nether Ettington, Warwicks – 14 August 1727, Bath)

   Composer and Master of Children at the Chapel Royal and organist at Westminster Abbey, he broke ground by publishing in score form a two-volume collection, {}Musica Sacra (1724). His numerous anthems were among the first English compositions to employ the late-Baroque continental techniques. Several of his hymn tunes are still in use including "St. Anne" ("O God, Our Help in Ages Past"). (at)