Voluntary II and Fuge III in f-minor

Thomas Roseingrave (1690 or 1691 – 23 June 1766), like his father Daniel Roseingrave, was an English-born Irish composer and organist.

He was born at Winchester, where his father Daniel Roseingrave was the Cathedral organist, but spent his early years in Dublin, studying music with his father (who, by then, was organist of both St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin and Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.

In the 1730s he was at the height of his technique and skill. However, his successful career came to an end when he was denied permission to marry a young lady with whom he had become infatuated. Her father would not allow her to marry a musician. The disappointment affected Roseingrave psychologically; his behaviour reportedly became irrational at times, and he neglected his duties. Eventually he retired to Dublin in 1747 where he lived with his nephew William in Dún Laoghaire. In Ireland, he mainly seems to have spent his retirement, a remarkable exception being the first and only performance of his opera Phaedra and Hippolitus on 6 March 1753 in Dublin. He died at Dún Laoghaire in 1766 and was buried in his family's grave in the churchyard of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.

Roseingrave's best compositions are his keyboard works which show surprisingly little influence of continental composers. His harpsichord works occasionally reflect the influence of Scarlatti, but the organ works are closer to the English style of Purcell and Blow. They are at times highly chromatic, reflecting the dissonant approach of English music such as Purcell's viol fantasies. They show irregular phrasing and form, suggesting that they may have arisen from freely extemporised performances for which he had been so famous.

Fuga start: 04:20