Thomas Ravenscroft
Thomas Ravenscroft(c. 1588– 1635) was anEnglishmusician, theorist and editor, notable as acomposerofroundsandcatches,and especially for compiling collections of Britishfolk music.[1]
Biography
[edit]Little is known of Ravenscroft's early life. He probably sang in thechoirofSt. Paul's Cathedralfrom 1594, when aThomas Raniscroftwas listed on the choir rolls and remained there until 1600 under the directorship of Thomas Giles. He received his bachelor's degree in 1605 fromCambridge.[2]
Ravenscroft's principal contributions are his collections offolk music,including catches, rounds,street cries,vendor songs, "freeman's songs" and other anonymous music, in three collections:Pammelia(1609),DeuteromeliaorThe Second Part of Musicks Melodie(1609) andMelismata(1611), which contains one of the best-known works in his collections,The Three Ravens.Some of the music he compiled has acquired extraordinary fame, though his name is rarely associated with the music; for example "Three Blind Mice"first appears inDeuteromelia.[3]He moved to Bristol where he published ametrical psalter(The Whole Booke of Psalmes) in 1621.
As a composer, his works are mostly forgotten but include 11anthems,3motetsfor five voices and 4fantasiasforviols.
As a writer, he wrote two treatises on music theory.The Briefe Discourse of the True (but Neglected) Use of Charact'ring the Degrees(London, 1614) includes 20 songs as examples: seven byJohn Bennet,two by Edward Pearce and the rest by Ravenscroft himself. Of these, the group of dialect songs 'Hodge und Malkyn' from the fifth a final section was nominated byJeffrey Markas the earliest example of asong-cyclein English music history.[4]There is alsoA Treatise of Musick,which remains in manuscript (unpublished).
Hymns
[edit]- Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes (to the words ofPhilip Doddridge)
- The Alternative version of 'Dundee' hymn tune, 1615: Melody in the tenor part, harmonised, 1621.
References
[edit]- ^Mateer, David. 'Ravenscroft, Thomas' inGrove Music Online(2001)
- ^W. J. Lawrence (October 1924). "Thomas Ravenscroft's Theatrical Associations".The Modern Language Review.19(4): 418–423.doi:10.2307/3714755.JSTOR3714755.
- ^The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (1951)
- ^Mark, Jeffrey.'Thomas Ravenscroft, B. Mus. (c. 1583-c. 1633)',inThe Musical Times,Vol. 65, No. 980 (Oct. 1, 1924), pp. 883-4
External links
[edit]
- Free scores by Thomas Ravenscroftin theChoral Public Domain Library(ChoralWiki)
- Free scores by Thomas Ravenscroftat theInternational Music Score Library Project(IMSLP)
- Thomas RavenscroftatAllMusic
- The Significance of Thomas RavenscroftZ. D. M. BidgoodFolk Music Journal,Vol. 4, No. 1 (1980), pp. 24-34
- Thomas Ravenscroft: Musical Chronicler of an Elizabethan Theater CompanyLinda Phyllis AusternJournal of the American Musicological Society,Vol. 38, No. 2 (Summer, 1985), pp.238-263 Article DOI: 10.2307/831565
- The Sacred Music of Thomas RavenscroftIan PayneEarly Music,Vol. 10, No. 3 (Jul., 1982), pp.309-315
- "The Music of Thomas Ravenscroft"site by Greg Lindahl containing modern editions, commentary, bibliography and facsimiles, including:
- Thomas RavenscroftatNaxos
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