Richard Mico

Richard Mico (also Micoe, Micho, Meco, Myco; 1590–1661) was an English composer. He was born in Taunton, Somerset, the eldest of three sons of Walter Mico. The family, originally called “Micault”, had immigrated to England from France several generations earlier. The Micos were a merchant family: the composer’s cousin was Sir Samuel Mico (1610–65), who settled in London by the 1630s, made his fortune in overseas trade to become an alderman of London and Master of the Mercers’ Company, and was knighted after the Restoration.Mico was appointed resident musician at Thorndon Hall, Essex, in 1608. There, he worked for Sir William Petre (William Byrd’s former patron) as a music teacher for the family’s children, as well as composing for the household. Surviving documents record the handing over of the household instruments to Mico in 1608, including five viols (with bows), a lute, organ and virginals. While working for Petre, Mico adopted his employer’s faith, converting to Roman Catholicism.In 1630 he was appointed as organist to Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, and held this post until the queen’s flight to Holland in 1642.He was buried at St Paul’s, Covent Garden, on 10 April 1661.None of Mico’s consort works were published during his lifetime, but Christopher Simpson, writing six years after his death, named him as one of the best composers of fantasias.

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