taught to sing; and those who had been taught in happier times, were speedily losing the youth ful freshness of their Voices, now doomed to perpetual silence. This bigotry of the Roundheads put an end to all hope of progress: but, happily, their term of power came to an end, before the traditions of the past were entirely forgotten. Men, who had done good service, before their career was interrupted by the Civil War, were still living, when, in the year 1660, the Restoration of Charles II. inaugurated a brighter future for music; and, to one of these the 'Merrie Monarch' wisely entrusted the reconstruction of the Choir of the Chapel Royal.[1]
Henry Cook, the new 'Master of ye Children,' had himself sung in the Chapel, as a Chorister, in the days of King Charles I.; and afterwards attained some reputation as a Composer: but, on the breaking out of the Rebellion, he relinquished his studies, for the purpose of joining the Royal Army; and in 1642 obtained a Captain's Commission, on which account he was afterwards known as Captain Cook. It has been said that his military prowess was greater than his musical talent; yet it is certain that he trained more than one of the best Composers of the rising School, and trained them well, though not without the assistance of able coadjutors. Among these learned colleagues were three quondam Choristers—Edward Lowe, Christopher Gibbons (the son of Orlando), and William Child, who, on the King's return, were appointed joint Organists of the Chapel. Another member of the older staff—Henry Lawes—was restored to Office, as Clerk of the Cheque, and commissioned to compose the Music for the approaching Coronation.[2] The Music played by the 'Sagbutts and Cornets,' during the triumphal Procession from the Tower to Whitehall, was written by an old Chorister of Exeter Cathedral, Matthew Lock. This accomplished Musician performed his task so successfully, that he was immediately promoted to the Office of Composer in ordinary to the King; and, in that capacity, at once began to furnish new Music for the resuscitated Choir, and to assist his trusty fellow-labourers in their endeavour to recover the ground which had been lost. But, there were grave difficulties in the way. So many old Part-Books had been destroyed, that, had it not been for Barnard's 'First Book of Selected Church Musick,'[3] there would have been little left to sing. Moreover, the difficulty of procuring Choir-Boys, in the face of Puritan superstition, was almost insuperable. In many Cathedrals, this dearth of Treble Voices led, not only to the extensive employment of adult Falsetti, but even to the substitution of Cornets for the Vocal Parts. Captain Cook, however, was fortunate enough to secure, for the Chapel Royal, a small body of Choristers, of superlative excellence, three of whom—Pelham Humfrey, John Blow, and Michael Wise—came at once to the front, and, before many years had passed, were openly recognised as the Founders of the new School. Strengthened by the Voices of these talented Boys, the Choir could scarcely fail to flourish; though its management was no easy task. The King, whose taste had been formed on the Continent, regarded the grand conceptions of Tallis and Byrd, and the solemn tones of the Organ, with far less favour than the lighter strains of the contemporary French School, and the more brilliant effect of a full Orchestra. He therefore filled the Organ-loft of the Chapel Royal with a band of Viols, Sagbutts, and Cornets; and, in order that they might produce the greater effect, commanded his Composers to intersperse their Anthems with a goodly proportion of cheerful Ritornelli, adapted to the powers of the new Instruments. They obeyed, of course, to the best of their ability. But, neither Lowe, nor Chr. Gibbons, nor even the more melodious Child, took kindly to the new French style, which must have sounded strange indeed to ears so long accustomed to the Polyphony of a byegone age. The two first-named Organists, indeed, contributed comparatively little Music of any kind to the repertoire of the newly-organised Choir: but Dr. Child was a voluminous Composer; and his works, though they will not bear comparison with those of Orlando Gibbons, retain much of his breadth of manner, and, notwithstanding their flowing vein of melody, show little affinity with the more modern Monodia which the King desired his Musicians to cultivate. Henry Lawes, on the contrary, was a zealous disciple of the Monodic School; and chiefly delighted in the confection of Sæcular Songs, which, though celebrated enough in their own day, and commended, by some of the best Poets of the age, for their prosodial accuracy, lack the genial freshness which alone can invest such works with enduring interest. There can be no doubt that in England, as well as in Italy, the earliest productions of the Monodic æra were pervaded by a perhaps unavoidable spirit of pedantry, which, however valuable it may have been as a preparation for better things, proved fatal to their own longevity. Beyond this transitional point Lawes never soared; and hence it is, that, while his Songs are now known only to the Antiquary, some of those written by his contemporary, Matthew Lock—who was, in every way, a greater Musician, and gifted with an infinitely richer imagination, and a far more liberal share of natural talent—are as popular to-day, as they were 200 years ago. There are, indeed, passages in Lock's Music to Macbeth, which can never grow old. Such Movements as 'When cattle die, about we go,' 'Let's have a dance upon the heath,' and the Echo Chorus, 'At the Night-Raven's dismal voice,' would have been welcomed as delightful novelties, in the days of Sir Henry Bishop; while the dramatic power exhibited in the Music,o the Third Act is quite strong enough to give olour to the theory which has been sometimes
- ↑ That is to say, the Chapel attached to the Palace at Whitehall, destroyed by fire Jan. 5, 1698.
- ↑ According to Sir Richard Baker's Chronicle, Matthew Lock composed the Music for King Charles's public entry; and Captain Cook, that sung at the Coronation. Probably, Cook and Lawes each contributed a portion of the latter. At any rate, it is certain that Lawes composed the Anthem, 'Zadok the Priest.'
- ↑ See vol. i. p. 140.
