BIOGRAPHY of WILLIAM LAWES

The following biography of William Lawes is extracted from his out of print book as a tribute to the musicologist Murray Lefkowitz. During the Second World War, Lefkowitz was an American GI stationed in England. Somehow, he chanced upon the music of William Lawes. Returning in the 1950s, and with a grant to research at the University of Oxford from 1951-1953, Lefkowitz produced the pioneering book on William Lawes and his music. He modestly states that Lawes' music had been hitherto all but unknown; reading between his lines, one realises that if it had not been for Murray Lefkowitz's work, the exquisite, strange and beautiful musical world of William Lawes might have remained unknown to us forever.

William Lawes

By Murray Lefkowitz.

Routledge and Keegan Paul

1960

Preface

The full extent and importance of William Lawes' work has not hitherto been known, not even to the few enthusiastic scholars who have made limited investigations. The reasons for the neglect of so rich a heritage of music are fourfold. First, Lawes' complete works have, until now, never been catalogued and only one or two of his important pieces have ever been published. Second, the sweeping generalities which have condemned the decadence of so much of the courtly arts of Jacobean and Caroline times have, by association, helped to keep William Lawes' music in obscurity. Third, because of William Lawes early death at the siege of Chester in 1645, his memory has been greatly overshadowed by the contemporary popularity of his older brother, Henry Lawes, and the latter's close association with the foremost poets of his age, this despite the limited production and inferior quality of the older musician's work. And finally, William Lawes had the misfortune of being part of an unpopular era, an era which saw the royal household grow away from the masses of the English people to become over-sophisticated in the extreme, an era which culminated in a bloody civil war, the execution of the King and the stringent edicts of the Commonwealth. Indeed, the age of the Carolines is only just now beginning to excite more popular interest. It is fitting, therefore, that the music of William Lawes be "awakened from its centuries-long slumber", that it be examined and sifted so that the finest of William Lawes' compositions may occupy their rightful niche in the performer's repertory.

Murray Lefkowitz

Los Angeles, California

June 1958

William Lawes

A Biographical Introduction.

The facts relating to the life of William Lawes, the man, are meagre indeed. They are confined to some knowledge of his family background, the dates and circumstances of his birth and death, a fleeting hint as to his early education, his presence in London from at least 1633, an anecdote or two - and that is all. William Lawes, the King's musician, however, presents a more rewarding avenue of approach, from the numerous glowing tributes paid to him by his contemporaries, by his activities in the "private musick" of Charles I, and from the accounts of a few musical chroniclers; but above all, it is through his music that we may know him.

William Lawes was baptised in the Close at Salisbury Cathedral in the county of Wiltshire on May 1st, 1602. His father, Thomas Lawes senior, was a bass choir singer who came, at an unknown date, from Dynder in Somerset, to the small parish of Dinton, Wiltshire, where, on February 3rd, 1594, he married Lucris Shepharde, daughter of Jennie Shepharde, a widow. In Dinton, William Lawes famous older brother, Henry, was baptised on January 5, 1596. But at some time before William Lawes was born, the family had moved to the Close at Salisbury, some eight miles distant, where Thomas Lawes received an appointment as a Lay Vicar in 1602. The Lawes home in the Close seems to have been one of the more important stone dwellings, since it boasted a private postern door which opened into the Cathedral. This would suggest that Thomas Lawes senior was a man of at least moderate means and of some status within the Close. The family was certainly in adequate circumstances, for they were able to keep a servant, one John Luxon. Thomas and Lucris Lawes had, in all, five children. Besides Henry and William, there was one sister, Elizabeth, who was baptised on October 20, 1605, and two more brothers, John, whose birth date has apparently not been recorded, and Thomas junior, christened on June 3, 1608. The latter remained all his life at Salisbury and followed his father's profession. John rose to greater eminence and became a "singing-man" at Westminster Cathedral.

Of William Lawes' childhood and early education, apart from music, little if anything is known for certain. It is probable that he attended the free Grammar School within the confines of the Close, which was then run by a schoolmaster of dubious merits, Master John Sharpe, who was supposed to instruct the children of the Close in the fundamentals of reading, writing, grammar, Latin, Greek and the Catechism. Of William Lawes' earliest musical education, it is again not possible to be sure. Reared as he was in a home of fine musicians, it is likely that his first musical instruction came from his father. It is also possible that William Lawes, as a boy, should have been one of the choristers of the Cathedral, since the Lawes family was known for its fine voices. If young William Lawes was a chorister at Sarum, his lot could not have been a very happy one, for the singing-boys at the time were under the supervision of an unscrupulous master, John Bartlett, whose treatment of the boys was such that it finally developed into a full-fledged public scandal. The boys, who resided in the Choristers' House in the Close, were neglected by Bartlett, who neither taught them the music lessons he was supposed to, nor provided for the food, clothing and other necessities which was their due. Nor did he oversee the discipline of the group, so that the choristers became disorderly in their behaviour and aroused the wrath of the Cathedral Chapter.

Who William Lawes' friends were during these early years is again a matter of conjecture. His brother, Henry, was six years his senior and is known to have had devoted childhood friends at Salisbury, fellow choristers such as Edward Lowe and Francis Sambrooke. The former later became organist of Christ Church in Oxford and copied some of William Lawes' manuscripts. Sambrooke, a capable amateur musician, became an attorney. The latter also contributed commendatory verse to the Lawes brothers' publication Choice Psalmes in 1648. And is responsible, together with Lowe, for the copying and preservation of much pre-Commonwealth music. William Lawes, it seems, liked to associate with boys older than himself, at least if the example of his later years is any indication. Undoubtedly, this as the result of his close association with his brother and the latter's friends as well as other musicians who were older than himself.

Salisbury and its surroundings were a stimulating area for a young lad of talent and musical ambition in the early seventeenth century. Sarum itself had a long and notable tradition of music. Great organists, composers, and excellent choirs of boys and men. The previous generation alone had benefited from the work of John Farrant the elder, one of a long line of English church organists and composers. When the elder Farrant left Salisbury it was finally his son, John Farrant the younger. Who succeeded to the post of organist at the Cathedral. The young Farrant was Vicar Choral and organist there from about 1598 until his death in 1618. It may have been this musician who introduced William Lawes to the organ and its literature. The Cathedral Choir, on the other hand, offered an opportunity for the boys to hear and perhaps participate in some of the finest performances of religious choral music then known, and to become familiar with a large part of the literature as well. The Sarum Choir had a formidable reputation for its excellent training. Thus, the noted English antiquarian, John Aubrey (1626-1697), tells us that "The Quire of Salisbury hath produced as many able musicians, if not more than any quire in this nation."

In addition to the musical activity within the Close, much was also going on in those days in the field of secular instrumental and vocal music in the immediate vicinity of New Sarum. At Amesbury and Wulfall - the estates of Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford - the two great innovators of early Baroque English instrumental and vocal music, John Cooper (alias Giovanni Coperario) and Alfonso Ferrabosco, held sway. Nearby also was Wilton House, the estate of the Earls of Pembroke, who were generous patrons of musicians and artists. Both Hertford and Pembroke were benefactors of the Cathedral at Salisbury and were ever on the alert for exceptional talent for their magnificent household establishments. It is not surprising, therefore, that Edward Seymour interested himself in a precocious child like William Lawes and indentured him to his own household under the musical tutelage of John Coperario. Thomas Fuller supplies us with the full account:

"William Lawes son of Thomas Lawes a Vicar Choral of the Church of Salisbury was bred in the Close of that City, being from his childhood inclined to musick. Edward Earl of Hertford obtained him from his father, and bred him of his own cost in that Faculty, under hid Master Giovanni Coperario an Italian, and most Exquisite Musician. Yet may it be said that the Schollar in time did Equal, yea Exceed his Master.

He afterwards was of the Private Musick to King Charles, and was respected and beloved of all such persons, who cast any looks towards Vertue and Honour."

There is no reason to suppose that Fuller's account is not authentic, excluding, of course, the statement that Coprario was Italian. The latter was in fact an Englishman, John Cooper, who, it is rumoured, visited Italy some time before 1604 and affected the Italian nom de plume upon his return. Anthony Wood, in his unpublished notes on the lives of English musicians which are in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, copied Fuller's account of William Lawes verbatim into his own notes concerning the composer. It is significant, however, that he crossed out "an Italian". He did not change any of Fuller's other statements but added a list of printed publications in which William Lawes' works were to be found, and the following note:

"William Lawes of ye private musick to K. Ch. I and an excellent composer for instrumentall musick - but to indulge the ear - he broke sometimes ye rules of mathematicall composition.

An improver and approver of the Lyra-viol.

His things before and after ye restoration alwaies culled out."

Since it was Benjamin Rogers, the organist and composer, a contemporary of William Lawes, who supplied Wood with a good deal of his material and critical comments for the manuscript, we have a tacit acknowledgement that Fuller's information is indeed correct.

At what age William Lawes was apprenticed to Coprario we can only guess from Fuller's statement that William Lawes was inclined to music from his childhood and that the Earl 'obtained' him from his father. From this the author suggests a date of c.1612, when the boy was ten years old. Fuller makes it quite clear, however, that William Lawes left his parents and Sarum Close to join Hertford's household. What is not clear, is exactly where William Lawes was entrusted to Coprario's care and tutelage. Was it at Amesbury of Wulfall near to Salisbury, or was it at Hertford's London house in the big city? And was his brother, Henry, also apprenticed to Coprario and was he with William? Neither of these questions can be answered with any certainty. Coprario's activities do not seem to have kept him in any one place for any length of time. In fact, it is possible that the student may have been with his master in several places between about 1612 and perhaps 1620, including the Wiltshire estates of the Earls of Hertford and Pembroke and the Royal Court in London, among others. As for Henry Lawes, there is positively no evidence that he studied with Coprario or ever left Salisbury before he was about twenty years of age. If he had been with William, it seems likely that Fuller or one of our other sources would have mentioned it. And one cannot by any stretch of the imagination compare Henry Lawes' music with the essentially polyphonic style of Coprario. The former neither worked in Coprario's forms nor did he write for instruments, whereas it can be shown that William Lawes' music shows Coprario's influence to a marked degree, contrapuntally, formally, harmonically and otherwise.

As Coprario's pupil it is probable that the young William Lawes had certain duties to perform in accordance with the seventeenth-century code of apprenticeship. It is not too far-fetched to assume, for example, that the boy acted in the capacity of servant to his tutor, helping him with his musical instruments when the latter had to travel, copying parts from his scores, securing supplies, reading over his music, etc., this in return for his lessons and his teacher's good favour. The course of study which the boy William Lawes must have followed under Coprario may be understood from the latter's manuscript treatise, entitled Rules How to Compose. This includes the traditional contrapuntal rules of intervals and melodic progressions (with the significant difference that Coprario counts his intervals from the bass upwards), four-part harmonic progressions regulated by the bass, rules for figuration or 'division', the handling of suspensions and dissonances, especially in cadence, and imitation or 'fuge'. From his own music, we can see how well William Lawes mastered his lessons. Indeed, it is possible that Coprario may have written the treatise for his young student. The date c.1610, which has been ascribed to the manuscript, is not too far off to detract from the plausibility of this assumption.

It is likely also that under Coprario's tutorship William Lawes acquired a thorough knowledge of the musical instruments of his day. These were the first and foremost the viols da gamba, from which small treble viol to the large 'consort bass'. From his compositions we may also assume that William Lawes was a competent performer on the violin, since by far the largest proportion of his works feature that instrument. It is also probable that he studied the theorbo-lute, the lyra-viol and division viols, the organ, and perhaps other keyboard instruments as well as the chromatic harp. In fact, if Henry Lawes' statements are to be accepted at face value, then "neither was there any instrument then in use, but he compos'd to it so aptly, as if he had only studied that".

As Coprario's pupil too, William Lawes must have had the opportunity of listening to and taking part in the performance of a great deal of music, and probably with many of the best musicians of the age. Even at this period in his life he may have made the acquaintance of some of his lifelong friends and colleagues, such as Afonso Ferrabosco II, John Jenkins, and Simon Ives. And with others of Coprario's pupils, including some influential members of the nobility, William Lawes may have taken part in 'consort', i.e. chamber-music playing. Indeed, it is not impossible that through this medium he may have been bought into contact with the two Royal Princes, who were also studying music with Coprario, as well as Ferrabosco at the same time. In particular, it may have been during this period that William Lawes first met the future King Charles I [Prince Henry, the elder son, would die of typhoid in 1612 -NR]. The then Prince Charles was studying bass viol with Coprario at about the same time that William Lawes was the former's pupil. We know that Charles I liked to take part in 'consort' playing since, according to John Playford's Introduction to the Skill of Music of 1697, the King was exceedingly fond of playing "those incomparable Phantasies of Mr Coperario to the organ." It is entirely possible, therefore, that they may have played in 'consort' together. Indeed, the King's immense respect for William Lawes' ability possibly began here, leading to the remark by Fuller that Charles I was particularly fond 'of his deare servant William Lawes... Whom he loved when living, and commonly called the Father of Musick."

It is significant that William Lawes' friends, apart from his brother, were in the main instrumental composers. Coprario himself was primarily an instrumental musician. So were Ferrabosco, Jenkins, Ives, Tomkins and the rest. From Coperario and perhaps Ferrabosco, both older men with a great deal of knowledge and experience, William Lawes had more than ample opportunity to learn his art well. Ferrabosco was considered one of the foremost exponents of viol-playing in England. Indeed, his fame as a violist had spread all over Europe and his numerous compositions for viols were popular abroad. While Ferabosco is not know to have taught the younger man, William Lawes later made use of one of Ferrabosco's bass lines in setting one of his best works, paying tribute to the older composer in the title and referring to him simply as 'Alphonso'. In another of his finest compositions William Lawes did the same for Coprario, thereby honouring both men. The importance of Coprario and Ferrabosco in the development of early English baroque instrumental style is paramount. They may be said to have taken the first steps in transforming the older 'motet style for instruments' into characteristically instrumental writing. This fact was recognised by Roger North in the early eighteenth century. He states:

"Upon the wearing out of this dull style there arose a set of musicians who were deservedly famous for the advances they made in Improving ye musicall style, as Alfonso Ferrabosco, Coperario and others as may be found in old musick books."

William Lawes' music is in fact indebted most to these two instrumental pioneers of the transition period between the late Renaissance and early Baroque. He is their rightful heir and successor. It is their forms which he uses and expands, their counterpoint and harmonies which he develops, their instrumentation which he employs and their 'Italianisms' and dissonances which he intensifies; the major difference being that, as Fuller observed, "the Schollar in time did Equal, yea Exceed his Master". Unlike his older colleagues William Lawes possessed that vital spark which distinguishes between genius and the 'first-class second rater'.

We do not know how long William Lawes studied with Coprario, nor do we know when and where Lawes was employed before his appearance on the Court scene in 1634 as the composer, together with his friend Simon Ives, of the music for James Shirley's monumental masque The Triumph of Peace. He may have remained in the service of the Earl of Hertford's family (his original patron had died in 1621). It seems likely that the Earl, having reared the boy from childhood and having paid for his training under Coprario, would have expected some service in return for his patronage. Indeed, William Lawes himself must have become attached to the Earl and his family. But the pages are quite blank during these years. Even an extensive search of his several extant autograph volumes does not help establish William Lawes' exact whereabouts from about 1620 to 1633. Once again we are forced to speculate.

There is, however, one significant point concerning the composer's extant vocal music which may offer a clue. William Lawes wrote much of his vocal music for the theatre. This entire production falls between 1633 and 1642. Not a single song or instrumental composition has been identified with a play or court masque during this period. This fact alone would tend to support a theory that William Lawes was otherwise engaged during this time, namely, in the composition of his larger contrapuntal chamber music for viols and violins. If William Lawes was still in the employ of the Hertford family or some other of the nobility where 'consort' playing was the particular delight of the patron, it would have been only natural for Lawes to produce compositions in that vein. Then too, he may still have been under the influence of Coprario and Ferabosco at this time (they died in 1626 and 1627 respectively). Later, when William Lawes joined his brother at the Court, he may have begun his period of vocal and dramatic composition as well as the lighter concertante style of dance music, such as the later version of the Royall Consort.

It is known that Coprario, like Ferrabosco, remained in the service of the Court until his death. Thus he continued as Prince Charles' musician until the later succeeded to the throne in 1625, and immediately was made special 'Composer of Music to the King'. Moreover, a petition dated May 12, 1625, suggests that Coprario actually had a group of his own within the larger musical establishment run by Nicholas Lanier, who was then 'Master of the King's Music' (several such groups actually existed within the King's larger musical establishment). In this petition a John Woodington affirms that he had been employed 'in Coprario's music' for three years. This may be merely a reference to the fact that Woodington was one of Prince Charles' musicians who were under the supervision of Coprario, but it does indicate that Coprario was in charge of his own group. Moreover, both Henry and William Lawes were rumoured to have been in the service of Charles before he ascended the throne. While this is entirely possible and the brothers Lawes may indeed have been in some way connected with a group headed by Coperario from about 1620 to 1626, no definite proof to this effect has yet turned up (Hatcher in The History of Modern Wiltshire (1843) states on undisclosed evidence that William Lawes "Before he was twenty-three years of age,...was selected as one of the private musicians to Prince Charles, and when his royal patron ascended the throne, he was continued in the same post, with additional marks of favour"). If Coprario was in a position of influence, however, it seems natural to assume that one of the first to have benefited from it was his most talented student. William Lawes may, therefore, have been in the service of the Court long before his actual appointment in 1635.

[It now seems that William Lawes might have been in the service of William Cavendish, First Earl of Newcastle, for part of the 1630's -NR.]

Henry Lawes seems to have established himself in London from about the year 1615. If young William Lawes spent much of his time under Coprario's instruction at the Hertford's London house, then it was probably during this period that the two brothers, drawn together in a large and strange metropolis, away from home and parents, developed that close attachment which characterises their relationship in later years, a relationship which prompted the Royalist poet, Aurelian Townshend, to describe them as "Brothers in blood, in Science and Affection, Belov'd by those that envie Their Renowne". Henry Lawes, at the time, was a lad of twenty, probably seeking his fortune in the big city with an eye to establishing himself at Court. William Lawes was a boy of thirteen, still engaged in his music lessons and already under the notice of the Court. When we read the many contemporary accounts which describe Henry as a most benevolent and kindly individual, admired, beloved and respected by all who knew him, we can well understand that the young man must have felt a great responsibility for his talented young brother's welfare in London. William Lawes, on the other hand, was in a position to introduce his older brother to influential courtiers and musicians. Through William, Henry Lawes may have become acquainted with Coprario, and though the latter he may have been recommended to teach the children of John Egerton, soon to become Earl of Bridgewater. The relationship between Coprario, the Egertons and Henry Lawes is established by Coprario's treatise Rules How to Compose. This manuscript is known to have been in John Egerton's possession before 1617, the year Egerton received his title. Egerton himself may have studied with Coprario and had the Rules copied out for him by a scribe. Henry Lawes taught the Egerton children, though probably not from Coprario's text. Thus it is likely that in some way all three were known to each other and may have benefited from their association.

Undoubtedly, Henry and William Lawes entertained hopes of rising to the highest position a musician in the seventeenth century could hope to attain, that of 'musicians in ordinary' in the 'private musick' of the King. The Royal Court in London was the centre of English cultural life, in music as in the other arts, literature and sciences. The musical establishment begun by Henry VIII had grown to the proportions of a great academy and the Stuarts made ample use of it to display the power and magnificence of the Crown and to indulge their tastes for fine music. The best musicians from all over the British Isles were drawn to the Court for the prestige, security, artistic stimulation and better pay which the King's Musick and the Chapel Royal offered them. The English monarchs also attracted many foreign musicians who brought with them new ideas, new techniques and new styles in music from abroad. Competion was keen as the English as well as the Italian, French and Dutch musicians attempted to captivate the sharp ears of a sophisticated aristocracy, many of whom, including the King himself, were discriminating musical amateurs. Thus, the society which William Lawes and his brother hoped to invade was well informed on matters of music and art, and highly exclusive.

But in that age an artist's ambition to penetrate court circles could not be fulfilled on the strength of the applicant's ability alone. There were two necessary adjuncts: to have come from a family of recognised and famous musicians, and to have the recommendation and support of a powerful patron. In Salisbury, one of the centres of English musical training, the Lawes family was well known for its musicians. As for powerful influence, what better patrons could Henry and William Lawes desire than the Pembrokes, Bridgewaters and Hertfords? William Herbert, third Earl of Pembroke, became Lord Chamberlain of the Royal Household in 1616. A native of Wiltshire, he was regarded as a special benefactor of Salisbury and its music and maintained his own elaborate establishment at Wilton House, a few miles distant. Like Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, Pembroke was also a great patron of musicians. Next to Buckingham he was the most influential man in all of England. It is significant that Pembroke, who was also a poet of some ability, had several of his poems set to music by both Henry and William Lawes. William Herbert's brother, Phillip, fourth Earl of Pembroke, was a great friend of Charles I who often visited him at Wilton. It was Phillip Herbert who, together with Charles I, petitioned the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury in 1632 in order to secure a Vicar Choral's place in the Cathedral for the elder Thomas Lawes. Phillip also attained the position of Lord Chanberlain for a brief period after his brother was made Lord Steward in 1625. And it was during Phillip's term of office that Henry Lawes was appointed Epistoler of the Chapel Royal in 1626.

Of the private life of Henry and William Lawes in London during the late twenties and early thirties, little is known. Apparently they mixed freely in the company of poets, actors and musicians that surrounded the Court. In particular, William Lawes, Henry Lawes and John Wilson, another composer destined for the King's 'private musick', seem to have hit it off well. The following anecdote from the manuscript of Jests and Stories by Sir Nicholas L'Estrange describes one of their nightly visitations to the local public house:

"Wilson, and Harry and Will Lawes were at a Taverne one night; Wilson being in the worst case of the three, sore he would Quarrel with the next Man he met, who was a meere stranger and a sober gentleman; whome he thus accosted; are not you a Catholicke? Yes marry I am; Then ya're a Knave says he; the Gentlman having passed a little way, stepps backe to him; and bids him not to swallow an Error, for says he, I am no Catholicke: why then ya're a scurvy Lying Knave sayes Wilson. Upon that out flew their swords, but the Lawes parted them presently".

Harry, Will and 'Jack' are probably the original 'Three Merry Boyes', referred to in William Lawes popular catch, 'The Wisemen Were But Seven'. Indeed, the numerous catches and rounds of the Lawes brothers and Wilson were undoubtedly dashed off on the spot, in the tavern of an evening, and immediately sung by the three friends. Thus, the text of another of Williaam Lawes' catches begins, 'If you will drink Canary at the Paul-head, let's meet old Harry...'

The first of the little band to be appointed to the select group of the King's private musicians was Henry Lawes, who in 1631 was sworn in as 'musician in ordinary for the lutes and voices' in the place of Robert Marsh, deceased. During this period there is still no record of William Lawes being employed in any capacity at the English Court. And yet William Lawes' fame seems to have grown sufficiently for the great parliamentarian, Bulstrode Whitelock, to choose him for one of the most important commissions that any composer enjoyed during the century, the music for James Shirley's Triumph of Peace, which was presented by the four Inns of Cout for Charles I and his Queen early in 1634. William Lawes apparently succeeded well in this task, for from this date his name appears much more frequently in the accounts of the productions at Court. As a matter of fact, even in the previous year William Lawes had composed a piece for Ben Johnson's Entertainment at Welbeck, where he seems to have been a part of the Royal entourage of the King, who was then on his way to Scotland to accept the Scottish Crown. This entertainment was produced at Welbeck Abbey by the Earl of Newcastle, with whom the Lawes brothers seem to have had some relations later on. How William happened to be a member of the King's party, it is difficult to determine. Henry, who already had his Court appointment and still help his post as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, would naturally have accompanied Charles, since it is a matter of record that the Gentlemen of the Chapel did attend the King on his progress to Edinburgh. But William Lawes' connection is puzzling, unless he was indeed in some manner unofficially attached to the Chapel or the Sovereign's household. There is no mention in the cheque book of the Chapel Royal of William Lawes ever having been a member of the Chapel, and yet, in the Chapel Royal Anthem Book of 1635, there are two anthems clearly by him. We know too that William Lawes composed a good deal of religious music. All of this, in addition to previous suggestions and facts presented here, indicates that he was active in the King's Musick, if not yet acknowledged by a regular appointment.

By this time, 1633, Henry Lawes was well on his way toward achieving fame as a composer of continuo song. He had an excellent voice and was well liked and respected at Court. The Royal poets fawned over him and were only too pleased when the King's musician would set their lyrics to music. William Lawes too enjoyed this popularity among the Court poets, and his songs in the declamatory vein are quite similar to those of his brother. Though less in quantity they are by no means inferior in quality. William Lawes' chief poets were all courtiers of one type or another: Sir John Suckling, George Sandys and Thomas Carew, all members of the King's privy council; Robert Herrick, Chaplain to Buckingham; William Davenant, dramatist for the King's Men Players and later poet-laureate; James Shirley, a member of Gray's Inn, and many others. In fact, both Henry and William Lawes shared in the services of all these men, although William Lawes seems to have preferred the poetry of the above-mentioned writers most of all.

Isolated instances over the next decade strongly suggest that William and Henry Lawes worked closely together in their duties at Court. In 1634, after the success of the Triumph of Peace, Henry Lawes did the music for Carew's masque Cœlum Britannicum, and shortly afterwards he was busy preparing the music for his friend John Milton's masque Comus, which was to be presented at Ludlow Castle on the Welsh border in honour of the Earl of Bridgewater's inauguration there on Michaelmas Day. It is not known whether William Lawes assisted his brother in this production by writing the instrumental music for the masque. None of William Lawes' works have been identified with Comus, despite the fact that modern editors have furnished their editions with instrumental pieces by the younger brother. The possibility does exist, however, that William Lawes was at Ludlow Castle with his brother and did help with the music. Later in the same year, both Lawes' appear to have taken part in some activity at Harefield House, the estate of the Countess of Derby, grandmother of the Egerton children (reference is found to provisions for the horses of Mr Lawes and his brother). At this time, too (December of 1634), William Lawes wrote music for the production of William Davenant's play, Love and Honour, which was produced at the Blackfriars Theatre by the King's Men Players on December 12. It was after this performance that William Lawes finally received his appointment as one of the King's musicians in ordinary 'for the lutes and voices' on April 30th, 1635. He took the place vacated by one John Laurence, deceased. John Wilson, the Lawes' brothers' friend, also received his appointment in this year. William Lawes' salary was to be forty pounds per annum and in the months that followed he received the customary allowances for livery that were the due of every Court musician (for example, in March 1636, both Henry and William Lawes received ten pounds apiece for the purchase of two lutes).

In the following year William and Henry Lawes collaborated on their first major work together, The Triumphs of the Prince d'Amour, a masque written by William Davenant for the Middle Temple of the Inns of Court. The occasion was the celebration of the arrival in England of the King's nephews, Charles and Rupert, the famous Palatine Princes. In August of the same year, 1636, the Lawes brothers participated in Archbishop Laud's preparations for welcoming the King to Oxford, and again William Lawes and his brother worked together. Three plays, which required much instrumental music, were performed for Charles I during his short stay. William Lawes' activities in the dramatic field from this time increased many-fold. Another work upon which the Lawes brothers collaborated was Sir John Suckling's Aglaura, which was presented at the Cockpit-in-Court in February 1638. The record indicates that in the composition of dramatic music, William and Henry had by this time practically become a team. It is not possible to say, however, that Henry Lawes was responsible for the vocal music of these productions and William Lawes, the instrumental pieces. Practically no instrumental music, apart from the latter's short 'simphonies' for the masques, has been identified with the plays for which the brothers wrote. It is true, of course, that William Lawes was much the more famous for his instrumental compositions. (Indeed, Henry Lawes seems to have written hardly any instrumental music at all.) Yet, once again the record shows that much more of the extant vocal music which has thus far been identified with plays and masques upon which the two collaborated, is by William Lawes rather than by his older brother. No doubt William Lawes wrote the instrumental music for these productions as well, but his activity in the vocal dramatic field deserves far more than just a passing mention. It is likely also that many of William Lawes' instrumental pieces, which we have in the form of short dance tunes in some of the publications of John Playford after the middle of the century, were originally composed for these performances. Some of these have been identified.

The year 1639 already brought with it the distant rumblings of civil war. The outbreak of the Bishops' Wars in the North saw King Charles and many of his loyal followers depart for the battlefield. Among those with commissions in the King's army were many members of the Royal household, including some of William Lawes' poet friends, Sir John Suckling and Richard Lovelace, whose poems the Lawes brother's had set to music. William's activities during 1639 and 1640 are difficult to trace. He wrote music for only one play, Suckling's Tragedy of Brennoralt, and no mention of him, except in the King's household accounts, has otherwise been found. Nor has any of his other music been traced to those years. As a young and loyal cavalier, he may well have joined his poet friends and his King in the army, but no evidence for this assumption has been discovered. We do know that in 1640 Henry Lawes was living at the 'Little Almonry'. Robert Herrick was also a tenant here at the same time. It is likely that William Lawes, too, if he wasn't with the King's army, was living here in London, with his brother and the poet whose verses both of them cherished for their songs. This year, 1640, also saw the death of Thomas Lawes the elder, at Salisbury, and it is probable that the brothers journeyed to Sarum for their father's burial in early November.

In 1641, William Lawes wrote music for three more plays, and that is the last we hear of him until his death at the Siege of Chester in 1645. In 1642 Parliament closed the theatres and by March 1643 Charles I had commanded his entire household to report to the Court at Oxford. There are no records of William Lawes having produced any music during the Court's residence at Oxford, though he may well have done so. However, at some time during the Oxford reign he received a commission and enlisted in the Royalist forces. Thomas Fuller supplies the account of what followed:

"In these distracted times William Lawes' Loyalty ingaged him in the War for his Lord and Master and though he was by General Gerrard made a Commissary on designe to secure him (such officers being commonly shot-free by their place, as not Exposed to danger,) yet such the activity of his Spirit, he disclaimed the Covert of his Office, and betrayed thereunto by his own adventurousness was casually shot at the Siege of Chester, the same time when the Lord Bernard Stuart lost his life.

Nor was the King's soul so ingrossed with grief for the death of so near a Kinsman, and Noble a Lord, but that hearing of the death of his deare servant William Lawes, he had a particular Mourning for him when dead, whom he loved when living, and commonly called the Father of Musick."

Fuller's account of William Lawes' death has been interpreted by some to mean that the composer strayed too near the firing line and was accidentally shot. This interpretation, however, does not appear to be entirely the case. A second glance at Fuller's statement concerning Lawes' death will show that it is not inconsistent with the facts as outlined in the account of the battle given below; to understand the circumstances of Lawes' death it is necessary to review the action which took place at the battle of Chester in 1645.

Charles I was on his way up from Hereford to relieve the beleaguered city of Chester near the Welsh border, thinking afterwards to continue north and effect a junction with Montrose's main force in Scotland. The parliament general, Poyntz, who was informed of the King's intentions, drove his forces hard in an attempt to catch Charles at Chester. Upon approaching the city, on September 23, 1645, the King sent Sir MArmaduke Langdale, with a strong force of cavalry, over Holt Bridge toward Rowton Heath which was a few miles south-east of the city. During the ensuing battle Colonel Jones, the Commander of the parliament forces, fell back in order to join hands with General Poyntz who came to his support. This movement was erroneously seen by the Royalists as a retreat. They immediately started in what they thought was 'pursuit', and so did many of the garrison and townspeople of the city who ran to join them. It was probably at this point in the battle that William Lawes 'disclaimed the covert of his office', and like the others ran to join the 'rout'. In the meantime Jones had joined with Poyntz and the whole of the rebel forces turned and charged their onrushing pursuers, who were then virtually cut to pieces by Poyntz's cavalry. It was one of the bloodiest slaughters of the war. When the smoke of battle was over, two of the many hundreds who fell were the Lord Bernard Stuart and William Lawes. A tablet in the city wall at Chester still marks the spot where King Charles looked down to see the utter annihilation of his forces there, on September 24, 1645.

[At this point in the biography, Lefkowitz lists some of the numerous tributes paid to Willliam Lawes by his friends and renowned contempories; both in poetry and music. This, in itself, was not unknown - one thinks of William Byrd's exquisite tribute to his master, Thomas Tallis ("Ye Sacred Muses"). What is extraordinary about the tributes to Wiliam Lawes is their sheer number, both musical and poetical: Lawes was obviously very much liked and highly regarded. For the purposes of this site, I shall reproduce the remarks made by Henry Lawes on his brother in the dedication and the preface to Choice Psalmes which was published in 1648; this was the first publication of any of the music of William Lawes and included music by his brother and eight elegiac compositions by some of those who knew him; the whereabouts of the volume of poetical tributes mentioned by Henry is unknown.]

"To His Most Sacred Majesty, CHARLES, by Grace of God, King of Brittaine &c"

"I could not answer mine owne Conscience (most Gracious Soveraigne) should I dedicate these Compositions to any but Your Majestie; they were born and nourish'd in Your Majesties service, and long since design'd (such as they are) an Offering to Your Royall hand. Many of them were compos'd by my Brother (William Lawes), whose life and endeavours were devoted to Your service; whereof, I (who knew his heart) am a surviving witnesse, and therein he persisted to the last minute, when he fell a willing Sacrifice for Your Majesty: I were unworthy such a Brother, should I tender ought that is his, or mine, to any but our Gracious Master (from whose Royall Bounty both of us receiv'd all we injoy'd;) and such an Inscription would not only seem a Theft and Alienation of what is Your Majesties, but (which I most abhorre) would make me taste of these ungratefull dayes. Your Majesty knowes when the Regall Prophet first penn'd these Psalmes, he gave them to the musitians to be set to tunes; and they humbly brought them to David the King. Besides, Mr. Sandys inscribes his Translation to Your Sacred Majestie; so that this I offer is Your Majesties in all caapacities, and doth not so properly come, as rebound back to Your Majesty. I was easily drawn to this presumption, by Your Majesties known particular affection to David's Psalmes, both because the Psalter is held by all Divines one of the most excellent parts of holy Scripure; as in regard much of Your Majesties present condition, is lively described by King David's pen. The King of Heaven and Earth restore Your Majestie according to Your owne righteous heart, which is the daily earnest prayer of

Your Majesties most humble

most loyally devoted Subject and Servant,

HENRY LAWES."

To the Reader

"These following compositions of mine and my Brothers, set at severall times, and upon severall Occasions, (having been often heard, and well approv'd of, chiefly by such as desire to joyne Musick with Devotion) I have been much importuned to send to the Presse, and should not easily have been perswaded to it now, (especially in these dissonant times) but to doe a Right (or at least to show my Love) to the Memory of my Brother, unfortunately lost in these unnaturall Warres; yet lyes in the Bed of Honour, and expir'd in the service and Defence of the King his Master. Living, he was generally known, and (for his Parts) much honoured by Persons of best quality and condition. To give a further Character of him I shall forebeare, because of my neer relation, and rather referre that to those Elegies which many of his Noble Friends have written in a peculiar Book: But, as to what he hath done in Musick, I shall desire the present and the future Age, that so much of his Works as are here published, may be received, as the least part of what he hath compos'd and but a small Testimony of his greater Compositions, (too voluminous for the Presse) which I the rather now mention, lest being, as they are, disperst into private hands, they may chance hereafter lost; for, besides his Fancies of the Three, Foure, Five and Six Parts to the Viols and Organ, he hath made above thirty severall sorts of Musick for Voices and Instruments: Neither was there any Instrument then in use, but he compos'd to it so aptly, as if he had only studied that. As for that which is my part in this Compostion, I had not thought at all (though much urg'd) to publish; but that, as they had their birth at the same time with his, and are of the same kinde, so they might enter both into the light together, and accompany one another being so neere allied; Mine taking precedence of order only, not of worth. I may be thought too partiall in what I hath spoke of a Brother; but here are following many of our Friends and Fellowes, (whose excellency in Musick is very well knowne) who doe better speak for him, while they mourne his Obsequies: yet I (oblig'd before all other) cannot but bewaile his losse, and shall celebrate his memory to my last houre.

HENRY LAWES."

 Concord is conquered, in this urn there lies

The Master of great Musick's mysteries:

And it is a riddle, like the cause,

Will Lawes was slain, by those whose wills were Lawes