I suspect the differences in their relative success (or apparent success) is largely a matter of their training and method of entry into the system of court employment. Most musicians who became members of the (English) Queen's/King's Music were brought up and trained within the system, either as apprentices at court (often under their own relatives, often uncles) or in an establishment closely associated with the court, and/or trained in the main cathedrals and Westminster Abbey, coming through the system first as choir boys.
(Slightly later examples are the Lawes brothers who probably were initially taught by Coprario under the patronage of the Earl of Hertford and had connections to the Earl of Pembroke, Lord Herbert (at Wilton House, near Salisbury); also Henry Lawes taught the daughters of the Earl of Bridgewater. Likely William, and possibility Henry, also sang as choristers at Salisbury Cathedral.) Family connections certainly helped: the majority of English court musicians were all relatd to each other in various ways through marriage, etc., most being members of the extended family of Lanier-Bassano-Galliardello-Ferrabosco. Byrd was brought up within the system, studying with Tallis and employed as organist and master of choristers at Lincoln Cathedral; later working as joint organist with Tallis in the Chapel Royal. This (and his profound skills) would give him powerful connections; so his subsequent appointments would continue within the system, until he left (of his own accord, it seems) to work privately at Stondon Masey. Dowland appears to have been trained outside of this system. (His early career is rather muddled, a sympton in itself, since court records were relatively well organized.) Indeed, he was trained partly outside of England, mainly in France. His training seems to have been more that of a domestic musician. That being said, he had some top-rate positions, with various members of the nobility, such as the English Ambassador to Paris, at the Danish Court (as lutenist to Christian IV), and finally with Lord Walden (Th. Howard). His main complaint was the lack of a position in the King's Music at the English Court (until 1612, when he finally did get a position). [One can overstate his "suffering"; it is all relative.] Gordon J Callon School of Music Acadia University Wolfville Nova Scotia Canada B4P 2R6 http://ace.acadiau.ca/score/site-map.htm -----Original Message----- From: Nancy Carlin [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tue 2/27/2007 9:04 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [LUTE] Re: More on Sting again REVISED I have always wondered if it were something about Dowland's personality versus Byrd. Was Byrd more user friendly? Did he have better people skills than Dowland? Or perhaps he was just better at buttering up the right people at the right time. Nancy Carlin >I have just read my mail and realised that it didn't make much sense, what I >meant was.... > >Mr. Rooley, says that he does not believe that Dowland was such a staunch >Catholic and was not "paranoid" as Sting tries to describe him. Also >that Dowland >may have been a spy,something that Sting also does not want to hear. > >I had a look at the DVD version, which is maybe longer than the Television >programme. The discussion is interesting because as Diana Poulton's >book (have a >look at pages 40-41) states being Catholic did not mean that you experienced >the sort of persecution that Sting tries to suggest Dowland >suffered.The funny >thing is that the catholic musician Byrd has a wonderfully sucessful life >under Elizabeth. > >Mr. Rooley's Early Music Magazine (January 1983) article "New light on John >Dowland's songs of darkness" shows a very different view of Dowland >not as the >misunderstood paranoid, but as an artist who articulated ideas that form a >central to the renaissance. > >best wishes >Mark > >-- > >To get on or off this list see list information at >http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html Nancy Carlin Associates P.O. Box 6499 Concord, CA 94524 USA phone 925/686-5800 fax 925/680-2582 web site - www.nancycarlinassociates.com Administrator THE LUTE SOCIETY OF AMERICA web site - http://LuteSocietyofAmerica.org -- --
