John Hilton

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John Hilton (c.1599 – 1657) was an English early Baroque composer. He is best known for his books Ayres or Fa-Las for Three Voices and Catch That Catch Can. Hilton was born in Cambridge. His father was probably the church musician and composer John Hilton the elder, who died in Cambridge in 1609. Hilton junior became organist at St Margaret's Church, Westminster in 1628, having published his book Ayres or Fa-Las for Three Voices in 1627. In 1635, Hilton was lutenist to Charles I. Some time in the 1630s, he composed The Judgement of Solomon, The Judgement of Paris, and The Temptation of Job. These are all similar to small-scale oratorios and operas. His collection of glees and catches, Catch That Catch Can, was published in 1652. He died in 1657 and was buried on the 21st March 1657 at Westminster. Catch That Catch Can was published by John Playford in 1652, and featured experiments in the catch musical form. It was reprinted in 1658 "with large additions". It was again republished in 1667 with the sub-title "The Musical Companion"; and also in 1672–1673. It is not known who composed the texts to the Ayres or Fa-Las. Most of the songs are about love. Published in 1627, it represented one of the last publications of English song until John Playford's Musical Banquet of 1651 (the one exception being Walter Porter's Madrigales and Ayres of 1632). User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

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