John Lugge (c.1580 – 1647–55) was an English organist and composer, who spent most of his musical career at

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 140 ...

Early life and family

John Lugge was the son of Joan Downe and Thomas Lugge, a

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

. He was baptized on 24 October 1580 at

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

. His brother Peter was brought up in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal. He married Rebecca, with whom he had six children. One of their sons, Robert, studied music at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

, and himself became a composer. Rebecca died in August 1644, but the year of John Lugge's death is unknown. The last documentary evidence relating to him is from 1647, where he transferred the lease of his house to one of his daughters.

Music career

As organist

There are no known records concerning Lugge's early musical education, although it is possible that he was a chorister at Exeter Cathedral. Lugge became the organist at Exeter Cathedral in 1603. In 1605, he became lay

vicar choral A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in an Anglican cathedral and often Roman Catholic Cathedrals in the UK, or (occasionally) collegiate choir in Britain and Ireland. The vicars chora ...

. He continued in both of these positions until 1647. From June 1608, his salary was divided with

Edward Gibbons Edward Gibbons ( bapt. 21 March 1568 – in or before July 1650) was an English choirmaster and composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Born in Cambridge, Gibbons's youth is completely unknown, but he later received degrees ...

, who presumably shared some of his duties.

As composer

Lugge composed three

organ voluntaries In music a voluntary is a piece of music, usually for an organ, that is played as part of a church service. In English-speaking countries, the music played before and after the service is often called a 'voluntary', whether or not it is so titled. ...

, which musicologist John Steele has described as "the best examples of this peculiarly English genre written before the Civil War". Some of the compositions attributed to his son Robert may actually have been composed by him.

Religion

In 1617, Lugge was examined by a bishop, accused of having

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

sympathies, an accusation prompted by a letter sent by his brother Peter. He was not convicted of any crime, with the bishop asserting: "Though I fear, and by conference do suspect that he hath eaten a little bit, or mumbled a piece of this forbidden fruit, yet I verily believe he hath spit it all out again". His house was searched in 1624, but nothing was found to support the claim.

References