Composer. Last name also spelled Whyte. One of England's first important musicians of the Elizabethan period. The son of an organ builder, he studied music at Trinity College, Cambridge, earning a B.A. in 1560. He succeeded his father-in-law, Christopher Tye, as organist and choir director of Ely Cathedral in 1561 and held a similar post at Chester Cathedral from 1566 to 1569. In 1570 he received his most important appointment, as Master of Choristers at Westminster Abbey, but his tenure there would be sadly short. White, his wife, and three of his children all perished in a plague epidemic that swept through Westminster in the autumn of 1574. They were buried together at St. Margaret's Churchyard. During the late 1500s White had a considerable reputation and was often compared to Thomas Tallis as a master of vocal music; his few surviving works are consistent in their fine technique and melancholy dignity. They include a Magnificat (1570), settings of verses from the Lamentations (c. 1568), eight motets, and Fantasias for organ. It is worth noting that he continued to set Roman Orthodox texts (in Latin) years after the Church of England had deemed them unacceptable.
Composer. Last name also spelled Whyte. One of England's first important musicians of the Elizabethan period. The son of an organ builder, he studied music at Trinity College, Cambridge, earning a B.A. in 1560. He succeeded his father-in-law, Christopher Tye, as organist and choir director of Ely Cathedral in 1561 and held a similar post at Chester Cathedral from 1566 to 1569. In 1570 he received his most important appointment, as Master of Choristers at Westminster Abbey, but his tenure there would be sadly short. White, his wife, and three of his children all perished in a plague epidemic that swept through Westminster in the autumn of 1574. They were buried together at St. Margaret's Churchyard. During the late 1500s White had a considerable reputation and was often compared to Thomas Tallis as a master of vocal music; his few surviving works are consistent in their fine technique and melancholy dignity. They include a Magnificat (1570), settings of verses from the Lamentations (c. 1568), eight motets, and Fantasias for organ. It is worth noting that he continued to set Roman Orthodox texts (in Latin) years after the Church of England had deemed them unacceptable.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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