Francis Cutting (c.1550–1595/6) was an English

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can refe ...

and composer of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

period. He is best known for " Packington's Pound" and a variation of "

Greensleeves "Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song. A broadside ballad by the name "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" was registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580,Frank Kidson, ''English Fol ...

" called "Divisions on Greensleeves", both pieces originally intended for the lute. Cutting was employed as a musician for the

Howard family The House of Howard is an English noble house founded by John Howard, who was created Duke of Norfolk (third creation) by King Richard III of England in 1483. However, John was also the eldest grandson (although maternal) of the 1st Duke of the ...

, which included Philip Howard,

earl of Arundel Earl of Arundel is a title of nobility in England, and one of the oldest extant in the English peerage. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and is used (along with the Earl of Surrey) by his heir apparent as a courtesy title. The e ...

. Little is known of the composer's early life, but he had ten children with his wife, Elizabeth, eight of whom appear in the

parish registers A parish register in an ecclesiastical parish is a handwritten volume, normally kept in the parish church in which certain details of religious ceremonies marking major events such as baptisms (together with the dates and names of the parents), ma ...

St. Clement Danes St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current ...

, Westminster, the parish in which

Arundel House Arundel House was a London town-house or palace located between the Strand and the River Thames, near the Church of St Clement Danes. History During the Middle Ages it was the town house of the Bishops of Bath and Wells, when it was kno ...

, the London residence of the Howards, was located.Mateer, "Cutting, Francis." Cutting is among the earliest English lute composers whose names are known. Several of his forty surviving works appear in

William Barley William Barley (1565?–1614) was an English bookseller and publisher. He completed an apprenticeship as a draper in 1587, but was soon working in the London book trade. As a freeman of the Drapers' Company, he was embroiled in a dispute betwe ...

's ''A New Booke of Tabliture'' (1596); his compositions include "Sir Walter Raleigh's Galliard," "Sir Fulke Greville's Pavan," and "Mrs Anne Markham's Pavan and Galliard." "His surviving music is of high quality, comprising about 51 lute pieces, two bandora solos and one consort part for bandora: an output exceeded only by Dowland, Bacheler and Holborne." The diplomat

William Trumbull Sir William Trumbull (8 September 163914 December 1716) was an English statesman who held high office as a member of the First Whig Junto. Early life Trumbull was born at Easthampstead Park in Berkshire and baptised on 11 September 1639. He w ...

compiled a manuscript anthology of lute music which includes works by the Bassano family and Francis Cutting. His son, Thomas Cutting, became a distinguished lutenist himself. He worked for

Arbella Stuart Lady Arbella Stuart (also Arabella, or Stewart; 1575 – 25 September 1615) was an English noblewoman who was considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I of England. During the reign of King James VI and I (her first cousin), she marrie ...

. In March 1608

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

Prince Henry Prince Henry (or Prince Harry) may refer to: People *Henry the Young King (1155–1183), son of Henry II of England, who was crowned king but predeceased his father *Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (1394–1460) *Henry, Duke of Cornwall (Ja ...

, and the courtier

John Elphinstone John Elphinstone, also known as John Elphinston (1722 – 28 February 1785), was a senior British naval officer who worked closely with the Russian Navy after 1770, with approval from the Admiralty, during the period of naval reform under Russi ...

wrote to her at Sheffield to request that Thomas Cutting be sent to the queen's brother

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

. Arbella reluctantly agreed. Thomas Cutting subsequently joined Prince Henry's household.

Thomas Birch Thomas Birch (23 November 17059 January 1766) was an English historian. Life He was the son of Joseph Birch, a coffee-mill maker, and was born at Clerkenwell. He preferred study to business but, as his parents were Quakers, he did not go to t ...

, ''Life of Prince Henry'' (London, 1760), p. 467.

Notes

References

* Mateer, David. "Cutting, Francis (c.1550–1595/6)." ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biograph''y, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan. 2008
Cutting [Cuttinge
Francis (c. 1550–1595/6), lutenist and composer">uttinge">Cutting [Cuttinge
Francis (c. 1550–1595/6), lutenist and composer * Spencer, Robert. "Cutting, Francis." In Grove Music Online
Cutting, Francis
* Spring, Matthew. ''The Lute in Britain: A History of the Instrument and its Music''. 2nd edn. 2001.

External links

Music Collection
in Cambridge Digital Library which contains early copies/examples of Cutting's compositions 1590s deaths 16th-century English composers Renaissance composers English lutenists Composers for lute Year of birth uncertain English male classical composers English classical composers {{England-musician-stub