Twelve Good Musicians

3-1

whose careers and works I am considering. I have always felt greatly interested in him and desired to find out all I could of his personal history, and particularly of his musical

of him, upon which I cannot improve and from whi

ans of his age: in conjunction and on a level with whom, his name and works appeared in numerous musical publications of the time, particularly in those of old Wilbye; in the Triu

he antiquary, in the Mus. Ashm. Oxon, that Milton's father, though a "scrivener," was not apprenticed to that trade, h

, alluding to his father's musical science, he says that Apollo had divided his favou

uch-lov'd sire!

onour'd with su

how to charm the

sweetness of

tones as every

heir to grea

ted, and by

lo his reful

out the magic

azes of poe

thus by his p

vinity to share.

e a member of the Scriveners Company (1599-1600). In 1632 he retired to Horton, in Buckinghamshire, having made a considerable fortune. In London he lived in Bread Street, where John Milton, the poet, was born. He contributed an admirabl

crivener? and whence did he get his musical knowledge? If we could prove that the suggestion is true which makes him a Chorister at Christ Church, Oxford, we should know where he probably got his musical knowledge and his proficiency in Latin. But this information seems to be

st C

fo

25,

ar Br

eption of the Civil War period) to about 1830, when new methods were adopted. It is always possible to discover by this who held each office, and whether they were in residence on a particular day. Unfortunately, they do not go back beyond 1570. I searched through a volume in hopes that Mr. Milton or the organist might be among the signatories. The singing-men and even the choristers are there. But apparently at that time there was no organist, and certainly there is no allusion to Milton or any names such as you wan

ery sin

S B.

he would be seventeen in 1570, and would therefore certainly have left the choir of Christ Church, if he ever belonged to it; and this, of cour

ford, who contributed this bit of historical knowledge, writes: "Does this render it less probable that the Poet's grandfather was Richard Milton of Stanton, or are

tigation have looked unfavourably on my proposition (i.e. that he was a Chorister of Christ Church), because they consider the Roman Catholic recusant can never have sent his son to any heretical school. An answer is now given in my favour by Mr. Allnutt,

is associated with all the best English composers of the period in more than one work. Coming to London, we are told he had an organ and other instruments in his house and to the practice of music he devoted his leisure. Masson says: "His special

hich a man would use if he had been educated in a Cathedral Choir. The style had "eaten into his

e still often sung in our Churches-entitled York: this seems to be an old Scottish tune; it was published in Edinburgh in 1615. It appears three times in Ravenscroft's book and with different harmonies, two of them being by the elder Milton. The m

ng the tenor part of any hymn-tune. But the tenor part here is the melody, and really it has a g

ngs edited by Miss Broadwood and Mr Fulle

his name in my list. So little is said about him in musical histories, and I have been able, I think, to get together some comparativel