Francis Pilkington (ca. 1565 – 1638) was an English classical composer, lutenist and singer, of the Renaissance and Baroque period. Pilkington received a B.Mus. degree from Oxford in 1595. In 1602 he became a singing man at Chester Cathedral and spent the rest of his life serving the cathedral. He became a minor canon in 1612, took holy orders in 1614 and was named precentor of the cathedral in 1623.[1] Although he was a churchman, Pilkington composed largely secular music—ayres, madrigals, and lute songs. These include two sets of madrigals (1613/14 and 1624) and a collection of lute ayres (1605).[2] He died in Chester.
References
^'Francis Pilkington' in the Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, 1994, Oxford University Press
^Historical Dictionary of English Music ca. 1400–1958 ed. by Charles Edward McGuire, Steven E. Plank (2012), p. 236
External links
Wikisource has the entry for Pilkington in George Grove (Ed.) (1900) A Dictionary of Music and Musicians:
A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Pilkington, Francis
