Hugh Aston (also spelled Asseton, Assheton, Ashton, Haston;[1] c. 1485 – buried 17 November 1558) was an English composer of the early Tudor period.
[4] On 27 November 1510 he supplicated for the degree of BMus at Oxford University, proposing for his examination an oration on the volumes of Boethius, and the submission (and performance) of a mass and an antiphon.
[2] In 1520/21 he was paid by the Dean and Chapter of the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, to advise on the purchase and installing of a new organ.
However Longland had to report that Hugh Aston preferred to stay in Leicester 'considering his greate wages which he alligith in perpetuity' (i.e. he claims they were promised to him for life).
[12] His appointment in Leicester was that of Keeper of the Organs and Magister Choristerorum (Master of the Choristers) at the major Royal foundation, the Hospital and College of St Mary of the Annunciation.
Later known as The Newarke, the institution had a Dean and twelve Canons (later termed Prebends), thirteen Vicars-Choral, four Lay Clerks and six (boy) choristers.
From 1528 The Charters required among many other things the use of the Salisbury ("Sarum") Rite, a daily sung Mass in honour of Our Lady, and also the singing of Matins, a High Mass and Vespers on more than two dozen high feasts, led by the Dean in Choir, so there would have been a heavy musical programme for the choir of around sixteen (including at least some of the Vicars) and its musical director.
This was a substantial property fronting onto Southgates Street directly opposite the main gate into the Newarke (The Magazine Gateway).
Furthermore, he had been granted a life tenancy on the Southgates property, with its with barns, gardens and paddocks, and his wife, Elizabeth Aston, had been awarded the right to a 21 year lease to commence on the death of her husband.
[14] With the lease transferred to their son Robert Aston, and subsequent renegotiations with the Duchy of Lancaster and the Burough Council, the property remained the family home until at least 1595[15] and possibly into their grandson's time in the early 17th century.
The exact date of his death is not known, but he was buried on 17 November 1558 in the parish church for the Southgates Ward, St Margaret's.
Free scores by Hugh Aston in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki) (bio & worklist only as of 2014)