John Bull

John Bull - In Nomine (CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR TRIBUTE)

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• published: 25 Dec 2014
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In Nomine, Piece No. 37 from the "Fitzwilliam Virginal Book" by English composer John Bull (year composed unknown). John Bull (1562 or 1563 – 15 March 1628) was an English composer, musician and organ builder. He was a renowned keyboard performer of the virginalist school and most of his compositions were written for this medium. Bull was one of the most famous composers of keyboard music of the early 17th century, exceeded only by Sweelinck in the Netherlands, Frescobaldi in Italy, and, some would say, by his countryman and elder, the celebrated William Byrd. He left many compositions for keyboard, some of which were collected in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. In addition to his keyboard compositions, he wrote verse anthems, canons and other works. Much of his music was lost when he fled England; some was destroyed, and some was stolen by other composers, though occasionally such misattributions can be corrected today based on stylistic grounds. One of the most unusual collections of music from the period is his book of 120 canons, an astonishing display of contrapuntal skill worthy of Ockeghem or J.S. Bach. Of the 120 canons, 116 are based on the Miserere. Techniques employed to transform the simple theme include diminution, augmentation, retrograde and mixed time signatures. Some of his music in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book is of a lighter character and uses whimsical titles: "A Battle and No Battle," "Bonny Peg of Ramsey," "The King's Hunt," and "Bull's Good-Night." He is sometimes credited with the composition of God Save the King, the British national anthem. 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 bequeathed this manuscript collection to Cambridge University in 1816, where it remains to this day in the Fitzwilliam Museum. Once called Queen Elizabeth's Virginal Book, a title that has been abandoned because it has been determined that she never owned it, the manuscript was given no title by its author. It is believed to be the manuscript collection of an amateur keyboard player of the very early 17th century named Francis Tregian the Younger, who copied the entire collection while imprisoned between 1609 and 1619 in connection with his Catholic sympathies (although his authorship is now disputed). There is no authorship attribution in the book itself. Until Parthenia was printed in about 1612, there was no music published as such in England at this time, and like the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, most of the collections of keyboard music were compiled by performers: other examples include Will Forster's Virginal Book; Clement Matchett's Virginal Book; [William] Tisdale's Virginal Book. It includes music dating from approximately 1562 to 1612 by John Bull, Giles Farnaby (51 of whose 52 known pieces are included), William Byrd, Peter Philips and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, as well as many others; there are more than 300 separate pieces. As with many keyboard manuscripts of the time, the pieces were not written for a specific instrument (at least, none is mentioned), and most sound happily on all contemporary keyboard instruments, from the virginals through to chamber organs. Most of the pieces in the book are short, and many of them are character pieces with droll and memorable titles, including: "Put up thy Dagger, Jemy," "The New Sa-Hoo," and "Quodlings Delight," by Giles Farnaby; "Nobody's Gigge," by Richard Farnaby; "Pakington's Pownde" and "The Irishe Dumpe" (anonymous); "The Ghost" and "The Earle of Oxford's Marche," by William Byrd; "Worster Braules" by Thomas Tomkins, and the famous "Lachrymae Pavan" by John Dowland, as arranged by Giles Farnaby. The book was not published at the time of its writing, instead remaining a manuscript in private hands. In 1899, Breitkopf & Härtel published a newly engraved edition with critical commentary. Since copyright on this edition has now lapsed, it has been reprinted by Dover Publications and other publishers specializing in reprinting of out-of-copyright editions, and is available inexpensively. (Wikipedia and IMSLP) Please take note once again that the audio AND the sheet music are NOT mine. Change the quality to 480p if the video is blurry. Pf.: MIDI A big thank you to YouTube user Stephen Malinowski (smalin) for the sheet music.