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Matthew Locke (c. 1621 – August 1677) was an English Baroque composer and music theorist.
Locke was born in
Matthew Locke (c. 1621 – August 1677) was an English Baroque composer and music theorist.
Biography
Locke was born in Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...
and was a chorister in the choir of Exeter Cathedral
Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 14 ...
, under Edward Gibbons, the brother of Orlando Gibbons
Orlando Gibbons ( bapt. 25 December 1583 – 5 June 1625) was an English composer and keyboard player who was one of the last masters of the English Virginalist School and English Madrigal School. The best known member of a musical fami ...
. At the age of eighteen Locke travelled to the Netherlands, possibly converting to Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
at the time.
Locke, with Christopher Gibbons (the son of Orlando), composed the score for '' Cupid and Death,'' the 1653 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 ...
by Caroline-era playwright James Shirley. Their score for that work is the sole surviving score for a dramatic work from that era. Locke was one of the quintet of composers who provided music for '' The Siege of Rhodes'' (1656), the breakthrough early opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...
by Sir William Davenant. Locke wrote music for subsequent Davenant operas, '' The Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru'' (1658) and ''The History of Sir Francis Drake
''The History of Sir Francis Drake'' was a hybrid theatrical entertainment, a masque or "operatic tableau" with an English libretto written by Sir William Davenant and music by Matthew Locke. The masque was most likely first performed in 1659 and ...
'' (1659). He wrote the music for the processional march for the coronation of Charles II.
In 1673 Locke's treatise on music theory, ''Melothesia,'' was published. The title page describes him as "Composer in Ordinary to His Majesty, and organist of her Majesty's chapel"—those monarchs being Charles II and Catherine of Braganza
Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to King Charles II, which lasted from 21 May 1662 until his death on 6 February 1685. She ...
. Locke also served King Charles as Composer of the Wind Music ("music for the King's sackbutts and cornets"), and Composer for the Violins. (His successor in the latter office was Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer.
Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest En ...
, who composed an ode on the death of Locke entitled ''What hope for us remains now he is gone?'', Z. 472; Locke was a family friend and may have had a musical influence on the young PurcellHenry Purcell (Glory Of His Age) by Margaret Campbell (Oxford University Press Paperback 1995) () p44 ''"The first mention is in Pepys diary: After dinner I back to Westminster-hall...Here I met with Mr Lock(e) and Pursell, Maisters of Musique; and with them to the Coffee-house into a room next the Water by ourselfs...Here we had a variety of brave Italian and Spanish songs and a Canon for 8 Voc:, which Mr Lock(e) had newly made on these words: "Domine salvum fac Regem", an admirable thing."''). In 1675 Locke composed the music for the score of Thomas Shadwell's '' Psyche''.
See also
*Drexel 3976
Drexel 3976, also known as The Rare Theatrical (based on an inscription from a former owner), is a 17th-century music manuscript compilation of works by the composer Matthew Locke, considered by some to be "the father of all Restoration dramatic mu ...
Notes
Sources
* Baker, Christopher Paul, ed. ''Absolutism and the Scientific Revolution, 1600–1720: A Biographical Dictionary.'' London, Greenwood Press, 2002. * Caldwell, John. ''The Oxford History of Music: From the Beginnings to C. 1715.'' Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999. * Harding, Rosamund E. M. ''A Thematic Catalogue of the Works of Matthew Locke with a Calendar of the Main Events of his Life.'' Oxford, Alden Press, 1971.External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Locke, Matthew English classical composers English Baroque composers English music theorists Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal 1620s births 1677 deaths 17th-century classical composers English male classical composers 17th-century English musicians People educated at Exeter Cathedral School 17th-century male musicians