Rehearsal Dates
- 28 Sep 2008
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- 18 Jan 2009
- 15 Feb 2009
- 08 Mar 2009
- 05 Apr 2009
- 10 May 2009
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This English Renaissance composer and instrumentalist was a professional wind player. Between 1604 and 1610 he was a member of the cornett and sackbutt band of Charles III, Duke of Lorraine. Soon after Charles III died (1608), Adson returned to England. By the end of 1613, he had joined the Waits of London (he remained a member of the City Waits for the next 27 years). He married Jane Lanerie in 1614 and they lived in the parish of St Giles Cripplegate. Two of his sons, Islay (or Islip; baptized 30 May 1615) and Roger (baptized 24 June 1621), also became musicians.
In November 1633 Adson became a Royal wind musician, playing cornett and recorder and in February 1634 he organized the wind players for the procession in the second performance of Shirley's Masque, "The Triumph of Peace". Nicholas Lanier, Master of the King's Music, strongly disapproved of Adson's involvement in this entertainment. Adson certainly enjoyed the sounds and the company of theatre musicians and paid little heed to the admonishment of Lanier. Adson was closely associated with the King's theatre company, and his name was even mentioned in its plays in 1634 and 1639/40.
In 1634 he was appointed music instructor to Charles I and for the last seven years of his life he was one of the 'King's Musicians for the flute and cornett'. He died on 29 June 1640 (aged about 60), and was buried at St Giles Cripplegate. He was succeeded at court by William Lanier and in the Waits of London by James Hinton.
Adson is best known for a collection of Dance music called "Courtly Masquing Ayres" (London, 1621; ed. P. Walls, London, 1975/6), which he dedicated to the Duke of Buckingham. It consists of 31 lively dances for "violins, consorts and cornetts". It is likely that most of these are his arrangements of tunes originally composed by royal musicians as Adson did not hold a court appointment when he published it.
Ammerbach was born in Naumburg, Germany and was educated at the University of Leipzig (1548-1549). On leaving University, he was employed as organist at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, probably for the rest of his life. He was married three times. (His first two wives died.)
Was Ammerbach actually a composer at all? We cannot be sure because no signed works have been found. We do know that many of the pieces he published were his own arrangements of other composers' work.
Ammerbach published the earliest printed book of organ music in Germany.
He developed a method of music notation for keyboard playing, known as tablature, which was specifically adapted for organ. This method became known as the "new German organ tablature" and involved letter notation for the pitches with rhythmic symbols placed above. Previously, the tune itself was written in staff notation and the other contrapuntal parts were aligned beneath in letter notation, but Ammerbach printed all the parts in letter notation.
In 1571 Ammerbach published a collection of songs, dances and vocal works by various composers, which he had transcribed for keyboard. The title, "Orgel - oder Instrument - Tabulatur", suggests that players of any keyboard instrument (not just the organ) could play it, and emphasizes a novel feature in his method of notation. His publications in tablature include arrangements of numerous composers popular in the mid 16th century, including Ludwig Senfl, Heinrich Isaac, Josquin Desprez, Clemens non Papa, Orlande de Lassus, and others. In 1575 Ammerbach published a sequel, "Bin new klinstlich Tabulaturbuch". In 1583 he published a revised and expanded version of his first book, entitled "Orgel - oder Instrument - Tabulaturbuch". These further publications helped to popularize Ammerbach's Tablature notation throughout Germany. Ammerbach died on 29 January, 1597.
The name "Anon" is virtually unknown in any language, which suggests that Anon had no descendants. Perhaps Anon's family suffered from hereditary infertility. It's a well-known biological fact that if your parents had no children, it's very likely that you won't either. Recently Anon's works have been subjected to stylistic analysis with the aid of a computer. The tentative conclusion is that Anon plagiarized all of his works from others. Those who fault Anon's style should remember that his chanson would probably sound better in Anon's native tongue, if we only knew what language that was.
Anthologies of music are cluttered with pieces attributed to Anon. These have earned Anon universal recognition and immortality. Innumerable biographies have been written about lesser composers, even composers so obscure that their works are seldom heard or performed, but Anon, though widely known, has been accorded only widespread indifference by historical musicologists. Even the most accomplished musician would be perplexed if asked to identify the characteristics of Anon's work. If a musician was asked how Anon's compositions were influenced by the culture and events of his times, he would be at a total loss for a sensible answer. So complete has been the scholarly neglect of Anon that his name has become a synonym for "unknown." In spite of this, he continues to be one of the most popular composers of all time.
What little we know of Anon's life is of doubtful validity. We have no authentic picture of Anon, nor any first hand description of him by anyone who would admit to having known him. Not one scrap of original manuscript in his own hand has survived the ravages of time. Scholars have given up hope of ever discovering an autobiography of Anon in some dusty attic. Yet, from the available dearth of evidence, we can piece together a sketch (albeit apocryphal) of this prolific genius. We know that Anon's pieces were performed very early in history. When references to him are traced backward in time, in the general direction towards the emergence of civilization, they lead us to a blank wall. This suggests that Anon must be placed in historical times so ancient as to predate the emergence of intelligent thought. He was certainly ahead of his time, which may be the reason why none of his contemporaries knew of him. If that argument seems specious, consider this independent and equally convincing evidence which leads to the same conclusion. Anon's music was considered immortal in all historical ages, and it is generally quite difficult for a composer to achieve immortality during his own life-time. The historical problem is compounded by the timeless quality of Anon's work. His style seems too old-fashioned for modern times, yet too advanced for ancient times. Either Anon was in the habit of living in the past, or anticipating the future. If so, it follows that he was probably neglected and unappreciated in his own age, and that could explain a lot.
Leaving these irrelevant questions aside, let us look at Anon's career. It can be divided into three distinct phases: the first, the second, and the third. That leaves only the problem of deciding into which phase to place each of Anon's works. This is especially troublesome for his posthumous works. Since we have no idea when Anon died, it's even a bit difficult to determine which of his works were posthumous. We might at least hope to extract Anon's methodology from those fragments of his genius which have trickled down to us through the sieve of history. It is a vain hope. To achieve a true appreciation of Anon's work we must first recognize that the inconsistencies and contradictions inherent or implied in his work do, in fact, represent the central, unifying philosophy underlying his approach to composition. Anon's fragmentary output has become so diffused throughout many cultures that it is nearly impossible to specify his country of origin.
Some academics even go so far as to suggest that all of Anon's works are ancient forgeries, perpetrated by the composer Ludwig Sennfl, writing under the pseudonym: E. M. Anon. When this name is read backwards it is seen to be an anagram of the kind musicians love to devise. This outrageous theory deserves to be rejected on its merits. Lest we be overawed by Anon's versatility, we should look at what he didn't do, for that demonstrates his discrimination and good taste. He did not compose one single nocturne for cornamuse and 6 drums, nor a purely instrumental operetta, nor yet any line intended for the white plastic crumhorn. He never wrote a best selling musical, never contributed to "Grove", and never edited an anthology. He left such enterprises to less discerning individuals. Despite the proliferation of his most serious output, Anon had a lighter side. In fact his output of ribald songs far exceeded the number of doleful liturgical settings he churned out. Anon realised that art is of no value without an audience, or as he put it so well, "'Tis better to be obscene than unheard."
So, a picture of Anon emerges: a witty, slightly cynical, musician of the people. He could sum up the essence of an idea in one pithy phrase. Though many others plagiarized his works, he never complained. He must have cared little for money, for there is no record that he was ever paid for any of his work.
Anon demonstrated that the best way to achieve recognition is by not seeking it. He was unconcerned about the judgment of posterity, for he said, "Be not obligated to posterity. What has posterity ever done for you? The critical judgment of posterity comes too late to be useful."
Of course any conclusions about Anon, the man, might have to be modified if it were shown that Anon was a woman. The true sex of Anon may be a matter of dispute, yet we have no reason to believe that Anon ever had the slightest concern about this question. As usual, Anon had the first word on such speculations when he (or she) said, "Nothing stimulates outrageous theories so effectively as an absence of evidence."
"Anon" is a derivative work from "ANON - The Myth Behind The Legend" (© 1983, Donald E. Simanek, Emeritus Prof. of Physics, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania). Thanks to Donald for giving his permission for this unashamed plagiarism.
Jacques or Jacob Arcadelt was a Franco-Flemish composer, principally of madrigals and chansons. He was probably born in Liège, and he died in Paris. Little is known about his early life, but we do know that he was in Rome by 1539, and that he was made a member of the Julian Chapel there. Soon after that he joined the Sistine Chapel, where he was appointed "magister puerorum" (director of the boys choir). In the same year he published four of his total of six books of madrigals for four voices. Around 1553 he moved to France, where he spent the remainder of his life. In 1557 he published a book of masses, dedicated to his employer, Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorraine, for whom Arcadelt was maître de chapelle (choirmaster).
Arcadelt's style is refined, pure, melodious, and simple, and his music was immensely popular in Italy and France for more than 100 years; his first book of madrigals was reprinted 58 times between c1538 and 1654, a spectacular print run for the time. Arcadelt published a total of 24 motets, 3 books of masses, 126 French chansons, and over 200 madrigals.
Antegnati was born in Brescia, Italy, in 1549 to a family of organ builders. Not surprisingly, he became an organist and organ builder himself. Antegnati felt that anyone involved in the profession of making and playing organs ought to understand composition too. So he became a pupil of Girolamo Cavazzoni to develop his skills as a composer.
Antegnati was the most famous and knowledgeable person of all the Brescian organ makers, who were active in Northern Italy from the end of the 15th to the second half of the 17th century. He learned the family business when he was very young, and by the age of 20 he was already deputising for his father, Graziadio. Even then, he had a very high level of knowledge and skill as an organ builder. In fact, Costanzo Antegnati was thought to be "the most perfect" organ maker of his time. He designed and directed the construction of 21 organs in Italy, between 1565 and 1612.
In 1584, at the age of 35, Antegnati was appointed organist of the cathedral of Brescia and remained in this post for more than twenty years, until forced to retire following a stroke (apoplexy). During this time he published volumes of Masses and psalms for double choir, motets and madrigals and a volume of organ ricercars (1608).
Antegnati died on 14th November 1624 and was buried in the church of Saint Joseph, Brescia.
Caroubel is known for his bransles, galliards and other dances. A collection of these were published after his death in an anthology entitled "Secret des muses" (Amsterdam, 1615). Caroubel also collaborated with Michael Praetorius and some of his pieces were published in Praetorius' "Terpsichore Musarum" in 1612.
Musician, diplomat and courtier - Cavalieri was born in Rome to an aristocratic and musical family. His father was Tommaso de' Cavalieri (c. 1509–1587), a close friend of Michelangelo. Cavalieri himself, was working as an organist and music director between 1578 and 1584.
In 1587, Ferdinando de' Medici succeeded his brother as Grand Duke of Tuscany, and in 1588 he brought Cavalieri to Florence as an overseer of artists, craftsmen and musicians. Cavalieri was master of ceremonies for the opulent intermedi that the Medici family required for events such as weddings.
In the 1590s, while in Florence, Cavalieri produced several pastorales (a semi-dramatic predecessor to opera, set in the country, often with shepherds and shepherdesses as main characters). In addition to his musical activities, he was employed as a diplomat during this time, assisting in papal politics, including buying the votes of key cardinals for the elections of popes Innocent IX and Clement VIII who were expected to favour the Medici.
Cavalieri is mainly remembered for his Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo (Representation of Soul and Body), thought to be the earliest surviving stage-work wholly set to music (Oratorio). It was performed at the Oratorio del Crocifisso in Rome in 1600.
Most of his music is in the most advanced style of the time. His four-part vocal music usually has a highly ornamented and expressive melodic line; the differentiation of the melodic line from the others is one of the defining features of the early Baroque.
One of the greatest composers of ceremonial music, Giovanni Gabrieli succeeded his uncle Andrea Gabrieli as organist at St. Mark's in Venice in 1585, where he remained until his death in 1613. His work as a composer represents the height of musical achievement in Renaissance Venice.
Until 1579, Giovanni Gabrieli was a Court musician in Munich, then an organist at St. Mark's, Venice, from 1584 until his death. His works are mostly sacred or instrumental, except for a few madrigals and canzonettas written in the 16th century.
Of his sacred vocal works all but the earliest are for two or more choirs and are bursting with full, homophonic texture. His later works show an interest in more modem techniques. Although multiple performing groups are still called for, these tend to differ in nature - choral, soloistic, or instrumental (now frequently marked as such). Organ (basso continuo) or instrumental ensembles may accompany solo vocal lines.
In Giovanni's motets, the Venetian style of polychoral composition attained its culmination. Motets of his began to appear in the 1587 volume representing him and Andrea jointly. "Giovanni Gabrieli is the musical Titian of Venice, as Palestrina is the musical Raphael of Rome."
Gabrieli is famous for being one of the first composers to specify instrumentation and volume markings in his music. He was probably the first composer to do so to achieve a particular sonic end, especially in his instrumental music. In this respect his music was forward looking even though it was the last word of an era.
This Venician composer and organist was the uncle of Giovanni Gabrieli. He began a lasting friendship with Lassus during a trip to Germany in the early 1560s. A pupil of Adrian Willaert, he gained fame as a singer at St. Mark's and as its second organist, after Claudio Merulo.
Gabrieli was organist at St. Mark's from 1566 until his death. He was a prolific composer writing sacred vocal pieces, madrigals, instrumental compositions and other secular vocal works. Most of his instrumental music was written for keyboard. Many of his works were not published until after his death, edited by Giovanni Gabrieli.
Holborne entered Cambridge University in 1562, and was admitted to the Inner Temple Court (London) in 1565. He married Elisabeth Marten on June 14, 1584. On the title page of both his books he claims to be in the service of Queen Elizabeth. His patron was the Countess of Pembroke, Mary Sidney. In the 1590s he entered the service of Sir Robert Cecil, the 1st Earl of Salisbury. He died of a 'cold' in November 1602.
In 1597 his earliest known work, the Cittarn Schoole,was published in London; it contains 58 of his own compositions, and is considered to be one of the most important sources of music for cittern. The "Pavans, Galliards, Almains and other short Aeirs, both grave and light, in five parts, for Viols, Violins, recorders or other Musicall Winde Instruments" was published in 1599 and consisted of 65 of his own compositions. It is the largest surviving collection of its kind. Most are of the pavan-galliard combination. Other pieces are of the allemande style. The rest are unclassified.
The fact that Dowland dedicated the first piece in his second book of lute songs (printed in London in 1600), "I saw my Lady weepe", 'to the most famous, Anthony Holborne,' shows that Holborne must have been a highly respected musician; this is one of Dowland's greatest songs, a profound study in elevated melancholy and a homage to the 'Lady Musick', the heavenly inspirer of both HoIborne and Dowland in their soulful compositions.
Undoubtedly, Holborne's most important work is the 1599 collection of instrumental pieces; it is one of the early prints of English consort music, the first of which appeared in 1590. Printed and manuscript collections of ensemble music became more plentiful particularly during the reign of James I, who succeeded Elizabeth I on her death in 1603, and the fantasy took ever greater precedence over the dances.
This French composer sang tenor in the Count/Duke of Angoulême's chapel (1509) and he was a singer at Cambrai cathedral between 1525 and 1530. Along with Clément Janequin, he was one of the most popular composers of "Parisian" chansons in France in the 1530s. He contributed twenty-three chansons to anthologies published between 1533 and 1547. He set a few doleful texts, but seemed to prefer narrative or descriptive/humourous songs. The texts often used double entendres, and were often ribald. He also liked to use nonsense syllables, often in imitation of animals, as in Il est bel et bon, his most popular piece, which imitates the clucking of chickens. His melodies are graceful and his settings are syllabic in freely imitative polyphony alternating with chordal passages, and with lively rhythms and repeated notes. His chansons were very popular during his lifetime.
Michael Schultheiss latinized his name to "Praetorius". This practice was common in the Renaissance period. Praetorius was a composer, choirmaster, organist and instrumentalist. His collection "Terpsichore" contains four and five voice dance music, written by himself and in collaboration with Caroubel, the French Court composer and violinist.
Johann Hermann Schein (20 January 1586, Grünhain, Saxony - 19 November 1630, Leipzig) was one of the first German composers to adopt the early (Italian) Baroque style. When Schein was 7 years old his father died. The family then moved to Dresden where he joined the choir of the Elector of Saxony as a boy soprano. He received musical tuition from Kapelmeister Rogier Michael. From 1603 to 1607 he studied at Pforta, and from 1608 to 1612, at the University of Leipzig.
After graduation, Schein worked for Gottfried von Wolffersdorff as his house music director and teacher to his children. In 1615 he became Kapellmeister at Weimar, and soon after that he became Kantor at the Thomasschule and Thomaskirche in Leipzig (a post held by Johann Sebastian Bach more than 100 years later).
Schein's compositions range from sacred music employing the most sophisticated techniques of the Italian madrigal, to humorous and simple drinking songs. He wrote all the texts of his secular songs himself. Schein wrote almost exclusively for voices, so it is surprising that the Banchetto Musicale (1617), a collection of 20 instrumental dance suites, is his most famous work today. It is thought that these suites were probably composed as dinner music for the courts of Weissenfels and Weimar, and would have been performed on viols.
Schein was afflicted with poor health, and was not to live a happy or long life. His wife died in childbirth; four of his five children died in infancy; he died at age 44, having suffered from tuberculosis, gout, scurvy and a kidney disorder.
Tielman (or Tylman) Susato, was born in Germany, but moved to Antwerp in his late twenties. He lived most of his life in the Netherlands. The exact place and date of Susato's birth are not known, but some say that because "Susato" means "de Soest" (of the town of Soest), he may be from Soest (near Dortmund) in Westphalia.
From 1525, Susato was a town trumpeter with the civic band in Antwerp. He began as a trombonist (sackbuteer) but, as was usual for Stadtpfeifferen (Town Pipers/Waites), he became proficient on a number of instruments, including trumpet, sackbut and recorder. Flute and tenor pipe are also instruments that he owned. At that time, the Antwerp Civic Band was one of the most outstanding ensembles of the day.
Although his job as a town musician earned Susato a perfectly secure and respectable income for two decades, he also worked as a calligrapher for the "Confraternity of Our Lady in Antwerp" (Antwerp Cathedral) in 1529.
He founded the first printing company in the Netherlands to produce sheet music, and he worked as a printer from 1541. To begin with this sheet-music business was, more or less, a sideline. Before 1540 printing had mainly been done in Italy, France and Germany. Susato's company utilized the new "Single Impression Printing Press". This allowed the printer of music to produce each page by using pre-made movable type pieces. While the result was not very elegant (especially compared to music printed using the older and more expensive multiple impression process), it was affordable and made it easy to produce the books in large quantities. This improvement in music printing was one of the most important developments in the history of Western music. For the first time, people of modest means had access to all sorts of printed music. By the time that Tielman Susato began publishing, the process of single impression printing had been perfected. The Low Countries soon became a regional center of music publishing. His printing business was so successful that Susato was able to build his own premises ('At the Sign of the Crumhorn') in 1547. Initially, he concentrated on printing French chansons, Latin masses and Dutch secular (folk) songs. Later, he began printing the music of his contemporaries, including: Janequin; Lasso; Josquin and Willaert as well as his own compositions. Susato appears to have branched out to run a musical instrument business as well by 1551.
Susato was one of the few Flemish composers of the period. How much of this is original remains uncertain, as he was obviously collecting and transcribing folk and popular music of the area. Yet, he was an accomplished writer who was to capture, in his songs and instrumental music, the essence of the time. His melodic material is attractive, and is particularly strong in its rhythmic characteristics. Much of his music, and the music he collected, were dances, with the general inference that this was popular music of the people, rather than for the court or aristocracy. He published one book of dance music in 1551, "Het derde musyck boexken ... alderhande danserye", composed of pieces in simple but artistic arrangement. True to form, most of these pieces are dance forms and many are based on current popular songs.
He published 25 books of chansons, 3 books of masses and 19 books of motets. He was keen to promote Flemish composers, and eventually published four books devoted to songs by national musicians. He composed many of his own works based on popular Flemish music of the time. The date of his death is unclear, but he passed on his publishing business to his son, Jacques. Unfortunately, Jacques died only three years later in 1564.
Susato died in Sweden in 1570 or after.