QUE 



tells us, that " Queen Elizabeth was not only a lover of 

 this divine fciencc (mufic), but a good profKicnt tliert-in ; 

 and I have been informed, i fays he, ; by an ancient mufician, 

 and her fervant, that Ihe did often recreate herfelf on an 

 excellent inllrument, called the poliphnnt, not much unlike 

 a lute, but ftrung with wire." 



Among the Sloane MSS. inthe Britifh Mufeum, No 15ZO, 

 there is a lift of the officers of the court of revenue in 

 this reign ; in which is included the mufical eftablilhment 

 of her majefty's hoiifehold, about the year 1587. 



^ Mujy/yons. 



•Her majefty's chapel eftablilhment was nearly the fame, 

 in number and lalaries, as that of her brother and fifter, 

 Edward and Mary. Indeed, it feems as if the religious 

 fcruples of muficians had been confiderably diminiflied by 

 the feverity with which Teftwood had been treated in the 

 time of Henry VIII., and the peril into whicliMarbeck's zeal 

 for reformation had involved him. For in comparing the 

 chapel eftabliftiments of Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, we 

 find, that however the creeds of thefe monarchs differed, 

 their muficians had conrtantly tuned their confciences to the 

 court pitch: /'. e. in perl. ft unifon with the orders of 

 their fovereign, the fupreme head of the church. 



Camden fays, that " the Rymifli religion remained a full 

 moneth and more after the death of queen Mary, in the 

 fame ftate as before." For Elizabeth, who began her 

 reign November 17th, 1558, had a folemn fervice performed 

 for her fifter Mary at Weftminfter, December ^th, and 

 another December 20th, for the emperor Chai'les V. ; and 

 thefe, as well as her own coronation, were celebrated in the 

 Romifh manner. 



Burnet fays, that " Elizabeth had been bred up from 

 ber infancy with a liatred of the Papacy, and a love to the 



QUE 



Reformation ; but yet as her firft impredions in her father's 

 reign were in favour of fuch old rites as he had ft 11 re- 

 tained ; fo in her own nature (lie loved ftate, ai.d fome 

 magnificence, in religion as well as in every thing elfe." 



We have no other mufic printed exprefsly for the cathe- 

 dral fervice to Englifti words during the reign of Ed- 

 ward VI. than that of Marh ck, which was mere canto 

 fermo, without counterpoint ; but the year after the pub- 

 lication of the Eiiglifli Liturgy by queen Elizabeth, tha 

 following choral work appeared : " litcttainc notce fct (oui) 

 in foure ana tfjrre pattca, to fac fono at tijp 3©onunc ?iOmmu= 

 nion, mX) (ttbenina IPtfiut, bcrp lucEaTatic for tbc Cljurcljcof 

 liTJ^alle to be frctiucutct) auB ufrti : anU unco tt)tm be a'D'att 

 Bitjjrs iSot)Ip If raina anti ildfalmca, in tf)f li6e foimc, to tijr 

 fjonout ant) praife of iSoti. Jmpiim:!! at ILontion, olier aiticrfs 

 sate, bfnratb Sr. QSattins, bp Tlohn Dap, 1560." The 

 authors of thefe compofitions were Tallis, Cawfton, John- 

 fon, Oakland, Shepherd, and Taverner. 



In 1565, our ecclefiaftical compofers, encouraged pro- 

 bably by the reception of the former publication, and 

 favour of the queen, printed another coUeftion of offices, 

 with mufical notes, under the following title : " ii(x!oniinB 

 anB (Ebrmiig i^tagct anB tiiommumon, fct foctbc in fourc pattcc, 

 to be fong in <3t)unt}cs, bott) for S&cn anB SbilBren, taitn Bjjbrrs 

 otI;er iSoBIp lyrapctd anB antfjcms, of funBtp H^tna Bopnea." 



The muficians who contributed to this colleftion were 

 Thomas Cawfton, Heath, Robert Hafleton Knight, John- 

 fon, Tallis, Oakland, and Shepherd. 



Thefe two publications by John Day, fixed, for near a 

 century, the ftyle of our choral mufic ; of which the move- 

 ment was grave, the harmony grateful, and the contrivance 

 frequently ingenious. 



The great muficians of queen Elizabeth's reign were 

 Dr. Tye, John White, Thomas Tallis, William Bird, 

 Dr. Bull, and Thomas Morley. And thefe, as ecclefiafti- 

 cal compofers, were perhaps equal in learning and genius 

 to the greateft contemporary contrapuntifls on the conti- 

 nent of Europe. 



We muft not , terminate our account of the cultivation 

 and progrefs of mufic by queen Elizabeth and lier fubjefts, 

 witliout making honourable mention of her majefty's " Vir- 

 ginal Book," and referring for a fummary account of its 

 contents to Bird, William. In all our enquiries after 

 mufical curioi'ities throughout Europe, we have met with no 

 pieces fo elaborate and difficult for the harpfichord, as thofe 

 by our ingenious countrymen. 



This book, equally valuable for its antiquity and con- 

 tents, was purchafed by Bremner at Dr. Pepufch's fale, 

 1762, whofe property it was to the time of his death. 

 After which it pafled into the hands of vifcount Fitzwilliams, 

 in whofe pofleffion, we believe, it ftill continues. _ 



It is a magnificent folio MS. curioufly bound in red 

 Morocco, with gilt leaves. Tliere are nearly 70 pieces by 

 Dr. Bull in this volume. The writing is fmall, but uncom- 

 monly neat, upon fix lines. The compofitions are in gene- 

 ral extremely elaborate and difficult ; particularly thofe by 

 Bird, Dr. Bull, and Giles Farnabie, who have all contri- 

 buted largely to the furnifhing of this volume, which con- 

 tains near three hundi'ed pieces. The firft movement in 

 the book is an old Englifh tune, called " Walfingham," 

 beginning in C natural, and ending in A major, which Dr. 

 Bull has varied in a molt: full and complicated ftyle, thirty 

 different ways. Signora Margarita, the wife of Dr. Pe- 

 pufch, when (lie quitted the Opera ftage, applied clofely 

 to the pra^ftice of the harpfichord ; upon which inftrument 

 file became a great proficient. However, with all her own 

 diligence and talents, affifted by the fcieuce and experience 



of 



