Thomas Lupo (baptised 7 August 1571 – probably December 1627) was an English composer and

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 ...

player of the late

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

and Jacobean eras. Along with

Orlando Gibbons Orlando Gibbons ( bapt. 25 December 1583 – 5 June 1625) was an English composer and keyboard player who was one of the last masters of the English Virginalist School and English Madrigal School. The best known member of a musical fami ...

John Coprario John Coprario (c. 1570 – 1626), also known as Giovanni Coprario or Coperario, was an English composer and viol player. According to later commentators such as John Playford and Roger North, he changed his name from either Cowper or Cooper ...

, and Alfonso Ferrabosco, he was one of the principal developers of the repertory for

consort __NOTOC__ Consort may refer to: Music * "The Consort" (Rufus Wainwright song), from the 2000 album ''Poses'' * Consort of instruments, term for instrumental ensembles * Consort song (musical), a characteristic English song form, late 16th–earl ...

Life

He was part of a distinguished family of musicians, who included several generations. His father was Joseph Lupo, a string player and composer from

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

who had come first to

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, and then to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

; Thomas was probably born there. In 1588 he joined the violin consort at the court of Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

– he was only 16 – but evidently he was not paid for his service until 1591. Thomas retained this position, or variants thereof, for his entire life. During the Jacobean era, he served both in the households of Prince

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

(after 1610) and Prince

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

(after 1617). A surviving record from 1627 indicates that he was in financial trouble, and had to sign away £100 of his future income to pay off his creditors: the report goes on to state that his wife violently attempted to prevent him from doing so. He died in

, probably in December 1627.

Music and influence

Lupo was one of the principal figures in the development of the

consort repertory. In addition, he was a significant composer of sacred vocal music. He probably wrote a considerable quantity of music for the court violin ensemble, however almost none of it survives; it has been hypothesised that much of the anonymous repertory for this group is by Lupo. Most of the music for viols which Lupo wrote, for two, three, four, five, and six parts, dates from his employment in the household of Prince Charles. Many of the pieces use a

contrapuntal In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

and textural style reminiscent of the Italian

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number o ...

, especially the pieces for five and six voices: in particular he imitated the style of

Marenzio Luca Marenzio (also Marentio; October 18, 1553 or 1554 – August 22, 1599) was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance. He was one of the most renowned composers of madrigals, and wrote some of the most famous examples of the fo ...

, whose works were well known in England, having made up a large part of

Nicholas Yonge Nicholas Yonge (also spelled ''Young'', ''Younge''; c. 1560 in Lewes, Sussex – buried 23 October 1619 in St Michael, Cornhill, London) was an English singer and publisher. He is most famous for publishing the '' Musica transalpina'' (1588 ...

's 1588 ''Musica transalpina'', which started the vogue for madrigals in England. His consort music for three and four parts is more experimental, often using combinations rare in other composers of the time, such as three basses together, or three trebles together. Some of the consort music was designed to be accompanied by organ. Specific types of instrumental compositions by Lupo include

fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

s (12 for six parts, 35 for five parts, 13 for four parts, and 24 for three parts);

pavane The ''pavane'' ( ; it, pavana, ''padovana''; german: Paduana) is a slow processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century (Renaissance). The pavane, the earliest-known music for which was published in Venice by Ottaviano Petrucci, ...

galliard The ''galliard'' (; french: gaillarde; it, gagliarda) was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. It is mentioned in dance manuals from England, Portugal, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. Dance fo ...

s, and Almands (

allemande An ''allemande'' (''allemanda'', ''almain(e)'', or ''alman(d)'', French: "German (dance)") is a Renaissance and Baroque dance, and one of the most common instrumental dance styles in Baroque music, with examples by Couperin, Purcell, Bach a ...

s). Some of the fantasias are direct transcriptions of Italian madrigals.

Family tree

References and further reading

* Peter Holman: "Thomas Lupo", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed April 6, 2006)
(subscription access)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lupo, Thomas English people of Italian descent English Baroque composers Renaissance composers English classical composers 1571 births 1627 deaths 16th-century English composers 17th-century English composers 17th-century classical composers English male classical composers Lupo family 17th-century male musicians