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Thomas Campion (sometimes spelled Campian; 12 February 1567 – 1 March 1620) was an English composer, poet, and physician. He was born in
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, educated at
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, studied law in Gray's inn. He wrote over a hundred lute songs, masques for dancing, and an authoritative technical treatise on music.


Life

Campion was born in London, the son of John Campion, a clerk of the Court of Chancery, and Lucy (née Searle – daughter of Laurence Searle, one of the Queen's serjeants-at-arms). Upon the death of Campion's father in 1576, his mother married Augustine Steward, dying soon afterwards. His stepfather assumed charge of the boy and sent him, in 1581, to study at
Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...
as a "gentleman pensioner"; he left the university after four years without taking a degree.. He later entered
Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...
to study law in 1586. However, he left in 1595 without having been
called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
. On 10 February 1605, he received his medical degree from the University of Caen.Christopher R. Wilson. "Thomas Campion", ''
Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...
'', ed. L. Macy (accessed 4 March 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access).
Campion is thought to have lived in London, practising as a physician, until his death in March 1620 – possibly of the
plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...
. He was apparently unmarried and had no children. He was buried the same day at
St Dunstan-in-the-West The Guild Church of St Dunstan-in-the-West is in Fleet Street in the City of London. It is dedicated to Dunstan, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is of medieval origin, although the present building, with an octagonal ...
in
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...
. He was implicated in the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, but was eventually exonerated, as it was found that he had ''unwittingly'' delivered the bribe that had procured Overbury's death.


Poetry and songs

The body of his works is considerable, the earliest known being a group of five anonymous poems included in the "Songs of Divers Noblemen and Gentlemen," appended to
Newman Newman is a surname of English origin and may refer to many people: The surname Newman is widespread in the core Anglosphere. A * Abram Newman (1736–1799), British grocer * Adrian Newman (disambiguation), multiple people *Al Newman (born 196 ...
's edition of Sir
Philip Sidney Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
's '' Astrophel and Stella'', which appeared in 1591. In 1595, ''Poemata, a collection of Latin panegyrics, elegies and epigrams'' was published, winning him a considerable reputation. This was followed, in 1601, by a songbook, ''A Booke of Ayres,'' with words by himself and music composed by himself and Philip Rosseter. The following year he published his ''Observations in the Art of English Poesie,'' "against the vulgar and unartificial custom of riming," in favour of rhymeless verse on the model of classical quantitative verse. Campion's theories on poetry were criticized by
Samuel Daniel Samuel Daniel (1562–1619) was an English poet, playwright and historian in the late-Elizabethan and early- Jacobean eras. He was an innovator in a wide range of literary genres. His best-known works are the sonnet cycle ''Delia'', the e ...
in "Defence of Rhyme" (1603). In 1607, he wrote and published a masque for the occasion of the marriage of Lord Hayes, and, in 1613, issued a volume of ''Songs of Mourning: Bewailing the Untimely Death of
Prince Henry Prince Henry (or Prince Harry) may refer to: People *Henry the Young King (1155–1183), son of Henry II of England, who was crowned king but predeceased his father *Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (1394–1460) *Henry, Duke of Cornwall (Ja ...
,'' set to music by John Cooper (also known as Coperario). The same year he wrote and arranged three masques: '' The Lords' Masque'' for the marriage of Princess Elizabeth; an entertainment for the amusement of Queen Anne at Caversham House; and a third for the marriage of the
Earl of Somerset Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particul ...
to the infamous Frances Howard, Countess of Essex. If, moreover, as appears quite likely, his ''Two Bookes of Ayres'' (both words and music written by himself) belongs also to this year, it was indeed his ''annus mirabilis.'' In 1615, he published a book on
counterpoint 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 tra ...
, ''A New Way of Making Fowre Parts in Counterpoint By a Most Familiar and Infallible Rule'', a technical treatise which was for many years the standard textbook on the subject. It was included, with annotations by Christopher Sympson, in Playford's ''Brief Introduction to the Skill of Musick,'' and two editions appear to have been published by 1660. Some time in or after 1617 appeared his ''Third and Fourth Booke of Ayres''. In 1618 appeared the airs that were sung and played at Brougham Castle on the occasion of the King's entertainment there, the music by George Mason and John Earsden, while the words were almost certainly by Campion. In 1619, he published his ''Epigrammatum Libri II. Umbra Elegiarum liber unus'', a reprint of his 1595 collection with considerable omissions, additions (in the form of another book of epigrams) and corrections.


Legacy

Campion made a nuncupative will on 1 March 1619/20 before 'divers credible witnesses': a memorandum was made that he did 'not longe before his death say that he did give all that he had unto Mr Phillip Rosseter, and wished that his estate had bin farre more', and Rosseter was sworn before Dr Edmund Pope to administer as principal legatee on 3 March 1619/20.London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section, Ref. MS 9172/31, Will number 150. While Campion had attained a considerable reputation in his own day, in the years that followed his death his works sank into complete oblivion. No doubt this was due to the nature of the media in which he mainly worked, the masque and the song-book. The masque was an amusement at any time too costly to be popular, and during the
commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
period it was practically extinguished. The vogue of the song-books was even more ephemeral, and, as in the case of the masque, the
Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
ascendancy, with its distaste for all secular music, effectively put an end to the
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 ...
. Its loss involved that of many hundreds of dainty lyrics, including those of Campion, and it was due to the work of A. H. Bullen (see bibliography), who first published a collection of the poet's works in 1889, that his genius was recognised and his place among the foremost rank of
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 personific ...
lyric poets restored. Early dictionary writers, such as Fétis, saw Campion as a theorist.François-Joseph Fétis, 'Campion' in:
Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique, vol. 3
' (2nd edition, Paris, 1867) p. 169.
It was much later on that people began to see him as a composer. He was the writer of a poem, ''Cherry Ripe'', which is not the later famous poem of that title but has several similarities.


In popular culture

Repeated reference was made to Campion (1567-1620) in an October 2010 episode of the
BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
series, ''
James May's Man Lab ''James May's Man Lab'' is a British television series presented by former Top Gear presenter James May. The first, three-part series was aired on BBC Two between 31 October and 14 November 2010. The second, five-part series was aired between 25 ...
'' ( BBC2), where his works are used as the inspiration for a young man trying to serenade a female colleague. This segment was referenced in the second and third series of the programme as well. Occasional mention is made of Campion ("Campian") in the comic strip
9 Chickweed Lane ''9 Chickweed Lane'' is an American comic strip written and drawn by Brooke McEldowney for over 25 years, which follows the fortunes of the women of three generations of the Burber family: Edna, Juliette, and Edda. 9 Chickweed Lane is the address ...
(i.e., 5 April 2004), referencing historical context for playing the lute.


See also

*
Canons of Elizabethan poetry The Western canon is the body of high culture literature, music, philosophy, and works of art that are highly valued in the West; works that have achieved the status of classics. However, not all these works originate in the Western world, an ...


References


Bibliography


In His Lifetime

*A Booke of Ayres (1601) *Observations in the Art of English Poesie (1602) *A Discription of a Maske etc. to the Lord Hayes (1607) *The Lords' Masque (1613) *A New Way of Making Fowre Parts in Counterpoint (1613) *The Art of Descant, 1671 edition. *The Art of Descant, 1674 edition *Two Bookes of Ayres (1613?) *A Discription of a Maske on S. Stephen's night (1614) *The Third and Fourth Booke of Ayres (1617)


Twentieth Century Editions of Works and Criticism

*Bullen, A H (ED.).
Songs and masques, with Observations in the art of English poesy
(London: A H Bullen, 1903). *Campion, Thomas.
A book of airs, as written to be sung to the lute and viol
' (Peter Pauper Press, 1944). * *Davis, Walter R. ''Thomas Campion'' (Twayne Publishers, 1987). *Davis, Walter R. and J. Mas Patrick, eds. ''The Works of Thomas Campion.'' W.W. Norton & Co., 1970. *Eldridge, Muriel T. ''Thomas Campion: his poetry and music'' (Vantage Press, 1971). *Lindley, David .
Thomas Campion
' (Leiden, 1986). *Lowbury, Edward, et al. ''Thomas Campion: Poet, Composer, Physician.'' Chatto & Windus, 1970. *MacDonagh, Thomas.
Thomas Campion and the art of English poetry
' (Dublin: Talbot Press, 1913). *Vivian, Percival (Ed.).
Campion's works
(Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1909). *Watson, George & Willison, Ian Roy. ''The new Cambridge bibliography of English literature, Volume 1'' (Cambridge University Press, 1971) pp. 1905–6.


External links

Text:
Biography
(Poetry Foundation)

(Luminarium: Anthology of English literature) * * *Husoy, Lance.
Thomas Campion and the Web of Patronage
' Music: * *

(Tony Catalano's Classical Guitar MIDI Page)
Music Collection
in Cambridge Digital Library which contains early copies/examples of Campion's compositions {{DEFAULTSORT:Campion, Thomas 1567 births 1620 deaths English classical composers English Baroque composers Composers for lute 16th-century English poets Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Renaissance composers 16th-century English medical doctors 17th-century English medical doctors 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers 16th-century English musicians 17th-century English musicians English music theorists English madrigal composers 16th-century English composers 17th-century English composers 17th-century classical composers English male poets English male classical composers 16th-century Latin-language writers 17th-century Latin-language writers New Latin-language poets