After the death of Henry VII, music making was increasingly popular in the
Tudor court. Elizabeth I was no exception. She ascended to the throne in
1558, and at the height of the Golden Age she employed around seventy
musicians. Elizabeth was a keen amateur lute player, and this program
showcases the exemplary work of contemporary lute players in and around
her court.
John Dowland's career can perhaps be summarized by the statement 'Failure at home: time spent aboard'. In the early part of his career he converted to Catholicism whilst working for Henry Cobham, the ambassador to France. After he had returned to England in 1583, whilst under the employment of Henry Noel, he was passed over several times when lutenist positions became available in Elizabeth I's court. At the time, the country was officially Protestant; Church of England. However, Elizabeth (seeking to pacify the majority of her subjects) was sympathetic to Catholics. But, unfortunately for Dowland, she may not have wanted them employed at her court.
Frustrated in England, Dowland accepted a lucrative post as lutenist to
Christian IV of Denmark in 1598, where he remained until 1606. During his
time in Denmark, Dowland often went on extended periods of leave to England
to oversee the publishing of his works and to perhaps also make appearances: still in hope of court employment. In 1612, Dowland was finally awarded an English Royal Lutenist's post in the long-dormant place of Richard Pike. By this time, namely 1603, Elizabeth I had died been by James I: the last of the Tudor monarchs.
Daniel Bacheler was apprenticed at the age of seven to his uncle Thomas
Cardell, the lutenist and dance master at Elizabeth I's court. After
having what must have been an excellent start in life, he proceeded to
work for the ill-fated Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex between 1594-99. In 1603, he became a Lutenist and Groom of her Majesty's Privy Chamber.
Although now classed as a 'lesser-known' composer from the Golden Age,
Bacheler was possibly the most successful lutenist in England in his own
lifetime. The reasons for his current lack of popularity are due to his
compositions being complex and difficult to play, often requiring the now
rarer and larger renaissance lutes, such as instruments with nine or ten
courses. Bacheler's long span of compositional activity resulted in an
output that is stylistically diverse. The musical forms found throughout
his works show that he lived through the change in taste between the
Elizabethan and Jacobean courts. They include: pavans, galliards, allemandes and sets of variations, one fantasia, courantes, and six preludes.
Alfonso Ferrabosco probably is more famous for introducing the madrigal to England than for his compositions. Born in Bologna, he visited England in 1562 and immediately found employment with Elizabeth I. During his time working at the English court he made many trips to Italy; this in addition to being unusually highly paid for a musician, causing many to think he was a spy.
Ferrabosco's madrigal style was considered skillful by his English peers. But looking back on it now, he largely ignored the progressive style developing in Italy that featured expressive chromaticism and word-painting.
In 1578, Ferrabosco left England never to return (despite regular requests
from Elizabeth). In 1588, he died in Bologna.
Francis Cutting is one of the earliest English lute composers that we are
aware of today. Little is known of his early life and musical training. At
some point in his career he was employed as a musician for the Howard
family which included the so-termed 'Catholic martyr' Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel. Cutting had an impressive ten children, one of whom, his son Thomas became a distinguished lutenist.
Cuttings compositions are a balanced display of the English lute style
during the 1580s and 1590s. He composed no fancy or ground basses and can
be more easily recognized by his contrapuntally-perfect pavans, galliards
and allemandes. Several of his surviving works appear in William Barley's 'A New Booke of Tabliture (1596)'.
Contrary to expectations Anthony Holborne did not have an appointment as a musician at Elizabeth I's court. He most likely held a position such as
'Gentleman Usher to Queen Elizabeth' by the time his book 'The Cittharn School' was published; in it he is styled 'Gentleman and servant to her most excellent Majestie'. In the final years of his life, 1599-1602, he also worked for Robert Cecil, the 1st Earl of Salisbury. Unlike some musicians of the time he was well educated and could versify and write in Latin; suggestive of training at court, one of the inns, or university. He was a significant composer of cittern and bandora music as well as lute music.
Orlande de Lassus was a world famous Franco-Flemish composer. He started his career by studying in Naples in the early 1550s, working as both a
singer and composer for Costantino Castroto. He next moved to Rome, working under Cosimo I de'Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. At the tender age
of twenty-one he was appointed the 'maestro di cappella' of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, the ecumenical mother church of Rome.
In 1556 he had joined the court of Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria in Munich,
becoming the 'maestro di cappella' by 1563. He would live in Munich for
the rest of his life.
By the 1560s Lassus was famous. Many leaders in Europe paid tribute to
him; Emperor Maximillian II conferred nobility upon him (rare for a
composer), Pope Gregory XIII knighted him and Charles IX (King of France) invited him to visit, twice.
Lassus died in Munich in 1594, the same day that his employer decided to
dismiss him for economic reasons. He never saw the letter.
Lassus did not write music specifically for the lute as far as we know, but
the piece in this program can be found in the Matthew Holmes Manuscripts
I: Cambridge University Library MS Dd.2.11 and is a contemporary
arrangement.
