Age+of+Exploration+and+Music

Elizabethan Songs

Elizabethan England

Elizabethan Music


 * Elizabeth I** (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603)

Elizabethan Court Musicians Queen Elizabeth employed at least 70 musicians and singers. The singers included those from the Chapel Royal. Her favorite court composers included **Thomas Campion** (1567-1620), **Robert Johnson** (1500-1560) and **William Byrd** (1543-1623). The range of Elizabethan music played at court varied enormously from traditional, simple English ballads to sophisticated madrigals and from solemn church music to lively dance music. The court musicians played to the courtiers from the Minstrels Gallery. The Minstrels Galleries were situated on a raised gallery overlooking the Great Hall of the castles and palaces used during the Elizabethan era. The musicians were seated on a narrow balcony, usually having a railing or balustrade. Elizabethan House Musicians.

Elizabethan music was so popular that every Nobleman employed his own musicians. Even Middle Class households employed at least one servant who could also play a musical instrument. Anyone who belonged to these classes were expected to be able to perform on an instrument and read music on sight. Music and Song lyrics were printed during the Elizabethan era but these were sold as separate documents! The Elizabethan composer **John Dowland** (1563-1626), a University Graduate in Music, published his ' First Booke of Songes or Ayres' in 1597. It became a best seller and highly profitable to the Publisher. Other popular composers followed suit!


 * Plymouth Rock** is the traditional site of disembarkation of [|William Bradford] and the //[|Mayflower]// [|Pilgrims] who founded [|Plymouth Colony] in 1620.

Portugese Composers