Nathaniel Giles
Nathaniel Giles (1558 – 1633 or 1634) was an English Renaissance organist and composer. He was the organist for Worcester Cathedral and wrote Anglican anthems. While Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal, he took over Blackfriars Theatre in a business arrangement with producer Henry Evans and there he worked with Ben Jonson on a children's company.
Nathaniel Giles
- Born
- 1558
- Died
- 1633 or 1634 (aged 75–77)
- Occupation
- * Organist
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Movements
- Baroque music
- Languages
- English
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In this article
Biography
Biography
Giles had the power under a royal warrant to impress children for service in the Chapel Royal. He allowed Evans and others to use the warrant to legally abduct children not for service as choir boys, but to work in their theatre. When in 1600 they abducted the son of a nobleman, this led to the Clifton Star Chamber Case. He was also a master of the Choir of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, and an organist at Westminster Abbey. His Te Deum (Durham Cathedral manuscript A2, folio 56) has instructions for the organist to play an octave lower than written, and one assumes this is to give the "dark" sonority of a 10 ft organ stop rather than the everyday colour of the standard 5 ft principal stop of the Tudor organ. His Vestigia mea dirige was included in the manuscript collection known as the Dow Partbooks. His son, Nathaniel Giles, became a Canon of Windsor.
Key facts
Key facts
• Born — 1558 • Died — 1633 or 1634 (aged 75–77) • Occupation — * Organist • composer • Era — Renaissance • Notable Works — *Te Deum • Vestigia mea dirige • Children — Nathaniel Giles
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Nathaniel Giles was born in Worcester.
Birthplace
Nathaniel Giles died in Windsor.
Deathplace
Worcester.
Birth place
Windsor.
Death place
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reference work
- “Nathaniel Giles”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q337172: Nathaniel Giles
General reference · Wikidata
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Nathaniel Giles, revision 1372099538 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.English Professional Theatre, 1530–1660, G.W.G. Wickham et al., 2000, , pg 264 https://books.google.com/books?id=y82YJ1P5gksC&dq=Master+%22Nathaniel+Giles%22&pg=PA264
- 2.HOASM
- 3.Glynne Wickham. English Professional Theatre, 1530–1660. Cambridge University Press. 264–267. 2001. 978-0521230124.
- 4.Patricia Reynolds. Kidnapped to order: child actors in Shakespeare's day. The National Archives (United Kingdom).
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
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