Robert Ramsey (1590s1644) was a Scottish-born composer and organist. He seems to have been from a family of court musicians to King James VI of Scotland, who followed him to London when he became King James I of England. He probably began composing around 1610 and may have had court connections, having composed tributes to

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (19 February 1594 – 6 November 1612), was the eldest son and heir apparent of James VI and I, King of England and Scotland; and his wife Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuar ...

, who died in 1612. He graduated as a Bachelor of Music from the University of Cambridge in 1616. He was organist of Trinity College, Cambridge from 1628 until 1644 and Master of the Children at the college from 1637. In the 1630s, like John Hilton, he composed mythological and biblical dialogues, such as ''Dives and Abraham'', ''Saul and the Witch of Endor'', and ''Orpheus and Pluto''. His most well-known work is probably "How are the mighty fallen", an anthem for

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

, tenor and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

. It is regularly performed throughout cathedrals and churches, normally in England. The work is in the "Tudor Anthems" book, print by music publisher Novello & Co. and edited by Lionel Pike.

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* 1590s births 1644 deaths 17th-century English composers 17th-century classical composers British male organists English Baroque composers English classical composers English classical organists English male classical composers 17th-century male musicians Male classical organists {{UK-composer-stub