Alfonso Ferrabosco (junior) (died 1652) was an English composer and court musician.
Biography
Alfonso was the son of
Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger
Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger (c. 1575 – March 1628) was an English composer and viol player of Italian descent. He straddles the line between the Renaissance and Baroque eras.
Biography
Ferrabosco was born at Greenwich, the illeg ...
(d. 1628), who was probably the 'Master
Alphonso Ferrabosco’ who sang in ‘
a Hymenœi’ on
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
1606, on the occasion of the marriage of
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, KB, PC (; 11 January 1591 – 14 September 1646) was an English Parliamentarian and soldier during the first half of the 17th century. With the start of the Civil War in 1642, he became the first Captain ...
, with
Lady Frances, daughter of the
Earl of Suffolk. He succeeded his father as one of the 'viols' in the king's band in March 1627–1628, and, together with his brother Henry, was appointed to the place of
musician in ordinary. The two brothers probably held jointly the post of
composer in ordinary (see below).
Alfonso died in 1652 and was buried at
St Margaret's Church, Westminster
The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster a ...
, on 14 July 1652. His brother
Henry Ferrabosco died around 1658, and their shared post as musician, was filled by
Thomas Bates
Thomas Bates (1567 – 30 January 1606) was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Bates was born at Lapworth in Warwickshire, and became a retainer to Robert Catesby, who from 160 ...
, who seems to have gained by the division of labour practised by his predecessors, as he is given £50 and £40 yearly. The brothers were succeeded in the post of composer in ordinary by Dr.
William Child
William Child (160623 March 1697) was an English composer and organist.
Early life
Born in Bristol, Child was a chorister in the cathedral under the direction of Elway Bevin. In 1630 he began his lifetime association with St. George's Chape ...
, who was appointed on 4 July 1661 "in the roome of Alfonso Ferrabosco and Henry Ferrabosco, deceased"; he, however, only received a grant of £40 a year.
Works
Four pieces for
viol
The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...
s by him, some of which are called ''In nomine'', are preserved in British Library Addit. manuscript 29427, where he is distinguished from his father by the addition of ''junior''. Among the manuscripts in
Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.
The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The presen ...
is an anthem, ''Let God arise'', the ''full'' part of which is attributed to an Alfonso Ferrabosco, and the ''verse'' portions to
William Lawes
William Lawes (April 160224 September 1645) was an English composer and musician.
Life and career
Lawes was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire and was baptised on 1 May 1602. He was the son of Thomas Lawes, a vicar choral at Salisbury Cathedral, ...
. The third Ferrabosco is the one who stands nearest in point of time to Lawes, and we may therefore conclude that in this anthem we have a work by him. No other composition of his is known.
Notes
References
*
*
;Attribution
* Endnotes:
**Cal. State Papers, Dom. Ser. Charles II, 1661–2, xxxix. page 32, xlv. page 180, lv. page 386
**Docquet Book, 4 July 1661
**authorities quoted above
**Somerset House Gazette, i. 101 (1824)
**Grove's Dictionary i. 512
**Dickson's Catalogue of Music manuscripts in
Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.
The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The presen ...
.
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrabosco, Alfonso
Year of birth missing
1652 deaths
English people of Italian descent
English singers
English classical composers
English Baroque composers
17th-century classical composers
English male classical composers
17th-century male musicians