Richard Davy
Richard Davy (c. 1465–1538) was a Renaissance composer, organist and choirmaster, one of the most represented in the Eton Choirbook.
Biography
[edit]Little is known about the life of Richard Davy. His name was a common one in Devon and he may have been born there. He was a scholar of Magdalen College, Oxford, and acted as choir master and organist at least in the period 1490-2.[1] Churchwardens' accounts for Ashburton, Devon, mention a 'Dom. Richardus Dave:' from 1493-5, where he may have been acting as a chaplain or as master of the nearby school at St. Lawrence Chapel.[2] He may then have moved to Exeter Cathedral to be vicar choral in the period 1497-1506.[1]
Work and influence
[edit]Davy is the third most represented composer in the Eton choirbook, with ten compositions including the votive antiphon O Domine celi terreque creator, which according to an inscription in Eton was composed in a single day.[3] His work is considered more florid than that of his contemporaries Robert Fayrfax and William Cornish and may have had considerable impact on later figures such as John Taverner.[1]
Notes
[edit]- 1 2 3 J. Caldwell, The Oxford History of English Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 196-201.
- ↑ I. Rumbold and J. King, ed., Musicology and sister disciplines: past, present, future: proceedings of the 16th International Congress of the International Musicological Society, London, 1997 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 564.
- ↑ "GB-WRec MS 178 (Eton Choirbook), Folio 59". DIAMM. Eton College Library. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
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