This study charts the history of the instrumental group from its beginnings to the time of Purcell. On 1 May 1540, six Jewish string players from Italy were given posts at Henry VIII's court. They were probably the first violinists to set foot in England and founded a string band that became a British musical institution, serving Tudors, Stuarts and Hanoverians in turn. The 24 places established for it by Charles II only finally disappeared from the royal household in this century. On one level this book is a history of the ...
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This study charts the history of the instrumental group from its beginnings to the time of Purcell. On 1 May 1540, six Jewish string players from Italy were given posts at Henry VIII's court. They were probably the first violinists to set foot in England and founded a string band that became a British musical institution, serving Tudors, Stuarts and Hanoverians in turn. The 24 places established for it by Charles II only finally disappeared from the royal household in this century. On one level this book is a history of the first 150 years of this institution. It recognizes the central role of the court in the musical life of Tudor and Stuart England and in doing so, presents a novel picture of the musical profession of the time. But is also explores a number of other issues, largely neglected until now. The first chapter is a new account of the origin of the violin, placed in the wider context of the development of instruments and instrumental music in the later Middle Ages. The second chapter explains the role of music and musicians in the daily round of court life and their dealings with the court bureaucracy. Running through later chapters is a concern to show how particular genres of consort music derive from the repertory of known ensembles at court and outside, and how the size and composition of these ensembles determined types of scoring and styles of writing. Peter Holman has examined much archival material for this study, and, by relating it to the surviving musical repertory, shows how seemingly dry-as-dust documents can contribute a good deal to the understanding of music of the past, and can often have a bearing on how it should be performed. He also tackles many thorny questions of scoring and performance practice raised by the English consort repertory from Henry VIII to Purcell, and reaches some startling conclusions.
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