1st Edition
A Biographical Dictionary of English Court Musicians, 1485–1714, Volumes I and II
Compiled by scholars with unrivalled knowledge of the sources, this dictionary provides biographies of all musicians and instrument makers employed by the English court from 1485-1714. A number of the musicians featured here have never previously received a dictionary entry. Coverage of these minor figures helps to flesh out the picture of musical life in the court in a way which individual studies of more major composers cannot. In addition to basic biographical details, entries feature information on: appointments; probate material; family background; heraldry; signatures and holograph documents; subscriptions to books; bibliographic references. A finding-list of variant names, details of the succession of court places assumed by musicians and an index of subjects and place names completes this comprehensive reference work.
Biography
Andrew Ashbee is a lecturer for the Worker's Educational Association. His series RECM has received wide acclaim. David Lasocki is Head of Reference Services in the Music Library at Indiana University, USA, and author of The Bassanos. Peter Holman is Lecturer in Music at King's College, London and Director of The Parley of Instruments. Fiona Kisby is a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow in music at Royal Holloway, University of London. She has completed her PhD on The Royal Household Chapel in Early-Tudor London, 1485-1547 (London 1996), sections of which have recently been published in Early Music and Early Music History.
Prize: Winner of the C.B. Oldman Prize, 2000, awarded by the UK and Ireland Branch of the International Association of Music Libraries. ’A vast amount of information is encompassed in a surprisingly easy-to-read style. The authors...are to be congratulated for achieving so thorough a task with such success. Everyone working on English music of the period will need a readily accessible copy.’ Early Music Review ’...a prodigious work of reference...This publication brings to a conclusion an extraordinary effort of dedication to scholarship. It is good that Ashbee’s publisher has provided sturdy casing and a strong binding, for these are books which will be in constant use. Like Tippex and parcel tape, we will soon be wondering how we ever did without them.’ Early Music 'Those who work on English music in the age of Cornish or Byrd, Child, or Purcell will at some stage almost certainly need to consult these volumes.' Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music ’It is one of the essential reference tools for anyone with a serious interest in English music during the Renaissance and Baroque periods...It is hard to imagine a more formidable gourp of scholars to deal with the biographies of English court musicians. This two-volume set is immensely valuable and important.’ Historic Brass Society Journal
