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Anne Cromwell's Virginal Book is a manuscript keyboard compilation dated 1638. Whilst the importance of the music it contains is not high, it reveals the sort of keyboard music that was being played in the home at this time.


The manuscript

The upright
quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...
book originally contained 51 pages, five of which have been torn out. It retains its original calf binding with gold tooling, and the initials ''A.C.'' are stamped on both back and front covers. The
verso ''Recto'' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. In double-sided printing, each leaf h ...
of the title page bears a table of
note value In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration (music), duration of a note (music), note, using the texture or shape of the ''notehead'', the presence or absence of a ''stem (music), stem'', and the presence or absence of ''flags ...
s and four lines of verse: '
'
'
' Each of the following 33 pages bears eight sets of six-line ruled staves on which are fifty short pieces of music, written in at least two
hands A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "han ...
. The remaining pages are blank apart from the last, on the verso of which is written: ''This Book was my Grandmothers Ann Daughter and Coheiresse of Henry Cromwell Esqr. of Upwood in Count. Huntingdon & was dated 1638 But somebody has torn out þe heLeaf.'' The book is currently in
Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...


The author

Anne Cromwell was born in 1618, the youngest child of Henry Cromwell († 1630) of
Upwood Upwood is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Upwood and the Raveleys, in the non-metropolitan district and historic county of Huntingdonshire, England, although in the administrative county of Cambridgeshire. Upwood lies a ...
, now in
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
. Henry was the brother of Robert Cromwell (c. 1570-1617), the father of
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
, making Ann a first cousin of the
Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') is a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometime ...
. Anne later married John Neale of
Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...
,
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...
. Her ''Coheiresse'' (above) was her sister Elizabeth Cromwell (born 1616) who with Anne may have had a hand in the writing of the manuscript.


Contents

The pieces contained in the manuscript are relatively simple, and written for the amateur performer. Most are anonymous, and consist of
song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...
s,
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
s,
psalm The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of H ...
s and ''symphonies'' (
masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A mas ...
music). Only nine pieces are attributed, of which six are to
Simon Ives Simon Ives (sometimes spelled Yves or Ive or Ivy) (1600 - 1662) was an English composer and organist who was active in the court of Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England ...
(1600-1662), one to John Ward, one to
Bulstrode Whitelocke Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke (6 August 1605 – 28 July 1675) was an English lawyer, writer, parliamentarian, and one of the commissioners of the Great Seal during the Interregnum. Early life He was the eldest son of Sir James Whitelocke and ...
and one to (possibly) Thomas Holmes († 1638). However composers of some of the other pieces can be identified from other sources, and include
John Bull John Bull is a national personification of England, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter-of-fact man. He originated in satirical works of ...
,
John Dowland John Dowland ( – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", " Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", " N ...
and
Henry Lawes Henry Lawes (1596 – 1662) was the leading English songwriter of the mid-17th century. He was elder brother of fellow composer William Lawes. Life Henry Lawes (baptised 5 January 1596 – 21 October 1662),Ian Spink, "Lawes, Henry," ''Grove Mu ...
. The contents (maintaining the original spelling) are as follows: #A Preludium (John Bull) #A Psalme #Mrs Villers Sport: #Besse A Bell #Daphny #The Building of Polles #The French Balletto #A French Tuckato #Fortune my foe #In the dayes of old #Frogges Galliard (John Dowland) # ntitled#Mr Wards Masque (? John Ward) #The Princes Masque #A Toy #The Queens Masque #The New Nightingall #The Meiry Companion #An Ayre #The Meiry Milke-maide #Simphony #The Queenes Galiard #Simphony #Simphony #A Corranto #A Masque #The Meiry old man: #The Healthes #The Sheepeard #The Duke of Buckeinghams Masque #The Milke maide #The #Symphony #The Choyce by Mr Ives (Simon Ives) # ntitled#Mr W: M: delight (Simon Ives) #The Scotch tune #The Blaseing Torch #Mr Holmes Coranto (? Thomas Holmes) # ntitled#Mr Whitelockes Coranto (Bulstrode Whitelocke) #Simphony by Mr Ives (Simon Ives) #Among the Mirtills (Henry Lawes) # ntitled#An almon by Mr Ive (Simon Ives) #A Coranto by Mr Ive (Simon Ives) # A Coranto by Mr Ive (Simon Ives) #The Maide #A Simphony by Mr Ive (Simon Ives) #al done


See also

*
The Mulliner Book The Mulliner Book (British Library Add MS 30513) is a historically important musical commonplace book compiled probably between about 1545 and 1570, by Thomas Mulliner, about whom practically nothing is known, except that he figures in 1563 as ''m ...
*
The Dublin Virginal Manuscript The Dublin Virginal Manuscript is an important anthology of keyboard music kept in the library of Trinity College Dublin, where it has been since the 17th century under the present shelf-list TCD Ms D.3.29. History The Manuscript was probably pur ...
*
My Ladye Nevells Booke ''My Ladye Nevells Booke'' (British Library MS Mus. 1591) is a music manuscript containing keyboard pieces by the English composer William Byrd, and, together with the '' Fitzwilliam Virginal Book'', one of the most important collections of Rena ...
*
Susanne van Soldt Manuscript The Susanne van Soldt Manuscript is a keyboard anthology dated 1599 consisting of 33 pieces copied by or for a young Flemish or Dutch girl living in London. Its importance lies mostly in the fact that it is the only known source of early Dutch key ...
*
Clement Matchett's Virginal Book Clement Matchett's Virginal Book is a musical manuscript from the late renaissance compiled by a young Norfolk man in 1612. Although a small anthology, it is notable not only for the quality of its music but also for the precise fingering indicat ...
*
Fitzwilliam Virginal Book The ''Fitzwilliam Virginal Book'' is a primary source of keyboard music from the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods in England, i.e., the late Renaissance and very early Baroque. It takes its name from Viscount Fitzwilliam who bequ ...
*
Parthenia Parthenia may refer to: *Parthenia (music) ''Parthenia or the Maydenhead of the first musicke that ever was printed for the Virginalls'' was, as the title states, the first printed collection of music for keyboard in England. 'Virginals' was ...
*
Priscilla Bunbury's Virginal Book Priscilla Bunbury's Virginal Book is a musical commonplace book compiled in the late 1630s by two young women from an affluent Cheshire family. It is important more for its fingering indications than for the quality of the music it contains. The ...
*
Elizabeth Rogers' Virginal Book ''Elizabeth Rogers' Virginal Book'' is a musical commonplace book compiled in the mid-seventeenth century by a person or persons so far unidentified. Of all the so-called English "virginal books" this is the only one to mention the name of the inst ...


References


Further reading

* ''Anne Cromwell's Virginal Book, 1638''. Transcribed and edited by
Howard Ferguson George Howard Ferguson (June 18, 1870 – February 21, 1946) was the ninth premier of Ontario, from 1923 to 1930. He was a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1905 to ...
.
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 1974. {{Authority control Renaissance music Books on English music Compositions for harpsichord Compositions for keyboard Renaissance music manuscript sources 1638 compositions 1638 books