Thomas Lupo


from wikipedia:

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 who had come first to Antwerp, and then to London; Thomas was probably born there. In 1588 he joined the violin consort at the court of Queen Elizabeth I – 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 (after 1610) and Prince Charles (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 London, probably in December 1627.

Lupo was one of the principal figures in the development of the viol 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 and textural style reminiscent to the Italian madrigal, especially the pieces for five and six voices: in particular he imitated the style of Marenzio, whose works were well-known in England, having made up a large part of Nicholas Yonge'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 fantasias (12 for six parts, 35 for five parts, 13 for four parts, and 24 for three parts); pavanes, galliards, and Almands (allemandes). Some of the fantasias are direct transcriptions of Italian madrigals.

Palestrina
Lamentations

The Amaryllis myth 

Longing for spring, I am posting the following:

Greek mythology tells the story of a very sensitive girl called Amaryllis. One day when she was on a mountainside picking flowers, she met the shepherd Alteo and fell in love on the spot. But Alteo was not interested in girls, he only loved flowers. He had often said that: "Only the girl who can bring me a new flower will receive my love."

Amaryllis despaired and turned to the Oracle at Delphi for advice. There she was told to take an arrow from the temple and to wound herself with it in front of Alteo’s house, whereby she must declare her love for him. If necessary she should repeat this action on the subsequent evenings. Amaryllis did what the oracle had told her and when the clock struck midnight on the first evening, she resolutely stabbed her breast and her heart. It was as if her life was streaming out of her as she stood in front of Alteo’s hut calling his name loudly and declaring that their lives were tied together. Unfortunately her actions had no effect.

She repeated the scene the next evening. And again the evening after that. For thirty nights blood dripped before Alteo's door, until a miracle happened. On the spot where the blood had fallen, there was a large red flower with a wide open calyx. "Alteo, Alteo, here is the flower," called Amaryllis excitedly. Alteo saw the fragile girl with the thick and heavy stem in her hands, bearing the unfamiliar bright red flower of love. The rugged shepherd knelt before her and wept, and as they kissed for the first time, the larks sung high in the air.

Of course the new flower was named Amaryllis.

from Amaryllismagic.co.uk

Scott Reiss
Dear Irish Boy





Obituary from the Washington Post