John Bull (composer)

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John Bull, 1589, so-called 'Oxford Portrait', Faculty of Music, University of Oxford

John Bull (* 1562 / 1563 in Somerset , † 13. March 1628 in Antwerp ) was an English organist , harpsichordist and composer . Along with William Byrd, he was one of the most important English virginalists of the Elizabethan and Jacobean epochs.

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In 1573 John Bull became a chapel boy at Hereford Cathedral, where he worked under the cathedral organist John Hodges. As early as the next year 1574 he probably became a member of the Children of the Chapel Royal , where the organist John Blitheman became his teacher. In 1582 Bull got his first job as an organist, again at Hereford Cathedral. In January 1586 he was officially named Gentleman of the Chapel Royal under Elizabeth I of England, who evidently admired his playing. He also earned the title of Doctor of Music in Cambridge (1589) and Oxford (1592); as Dr. He was evidently well known to Bull, at least he is often called that in the manuscripts. After the death of his former teacher John Blitheman in 1591, Bull took over his post as organist at the Chapel Royal. Despite these posts at court, he seems to have had financial problems, for he made petitions to the queen, asking for an increase in his salary (April 20, 1591). In May 1592, Bull was the victim of a robbery near Tewkesbury.

His financial situation improved when he was appointed professor at Gresham College in London in 1597 together with six other scholars (until 1607); Bull received special permission from the Queen that he was only allowed to give his readings in English (and not in Latin, as usual); otherwise, like all other professors, he had to be unmarried.

1601–1602 the composer seems to have been seriously ill. A trip to the continent previously assumed for this period, or even espionage activity for the queen, is not documented. Bull was not one of Elizabeth I's private musicians, so it is only documented that he played the organ at official receptions and court parties in the presence of foreign guests and ambassadors. After the death of Elisabeth I in 1603, Bull remained in royal service under Jakob I.

In December 1607 he lost his post at Gresham College because he married the 24-year-old Elisabeth Walter (Bull was about 45 years old). They had a daughter.

1609–1610, Bull tried to build organs for Archduke Albrecht , the governor of the Spanish Netherlands; In the course of these events he was robbed by pirates on a sea voyage, and after a year and a half of waiting the Archduke had to look for another organ builder.

From around 1610 Bull had close ties to the court of Prince Henry, the English heir to the throne. However, he does not seem to have been his official teacher, in contrast to Princess Elisabeth , whom he officially taught from 1612. When Elisabeth was married to Prince Friedrich of the Palatinate (later Winter King ) in 1613 , she received the first printed volume of English virginal music, Parthenia or the Maydenhead , as a wedding present ; dedicated to the royal couple, this collection contains eight pieces by William Byrd, seven by John Bull, and six by Orlando Gibbons . These are the only published works by Bull. Bull's Anthem God the Father, God the Son was also performed at the wedding (lost).

In the same year 1613, at the height of his English musical career, Bull fled surprisingly to Brussels to the court of Archduke Albrecht and his wife Isabella Clara Eugenia . Bull himself claimed that he was being persecuted in England for his Catholic faith; England, in turn, accused Bull of publicly insulting a clergyman, adultery and other crimes, and demanded his extradition from the governor. He was forced to dismiss the virtuoso at the end of 1614 for diplomatic reasons, but continued to support him with payments from his private box until 1618. Bull went to Antwerp , where from 1615 he initially got by more badly than right as an auxiliary organist, and even received alms. After the death of Raymondus Waelrant, Bull took over his office as organist of the cathedral (on December 29, 1617).

John Bull died in 1628 and was buried in the South Cemetery in Antwerp.

Bull had been friends with Peter Philips , who, like him, was Catholic and worked as court organist in Brussels since at least 1609 . It has not been established whether Bull knew personally the Dutch organist Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck , who worked in Amsterdam , as is sometimes claimed. However, it is very likely that he knew the famous Ruckers family of harpsichords who lived and worked in Antwerp.

plant

John Bull was one of the most important composers of keyboard music and undoubtedly the greatest keyboard virtuoso the world had seen until then - and that in an era that can be described as the first major climax in the field of music for organ and harpsichord, and which produced a whole series of witty virtuosos internationally, e. B. England: William Byrd, Giles Farnaby , Thomas Tomkins ; in Italy: Andrea Gabrieli , Claudio Merulo , Giovanni Maria Trabaci , Girolamo Frescobaldi ; in the Netherlands: Sweelinck; in Spain: Cabezòn , Correa de Arauxo u. a.

44 of Bull's compositions for harpsichord, virginal or organ alone are contained in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book , including some of his most important works. He left a total of over 140 key works in all possible genres, such as cantusfirmus and chorale arrangements (In Nomines, Miserere, Salve Regina and others), fantasies, variations, dances and character pieces. Stylistically, these pieces can be at least partially divided into early works, maturity and late works (from the Dutch period); the Cantusfirmus works are a further development of the traditional, somewhat dry Tudor organ style. It must be stressed that it would be extremely unfair to dismiss Bull as a mere 'keyboard acrobat', which he was, but which can also be viewed as positive. It is noticeable that Bull's music has a high, even brilliant intellectual level and z. T. is made extremely imaginative and artful, with a preference for imitations and canon techniques, sometimes in the smallest of spaces. He simply draws on the full in every respect.

His most brilliant and virtuoso bravura pieces include u. a. the 30 fanciful variations on Walsingham that introduce the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; Here he uses numerous figurations that are daring for his time, such as broken octave and sixth parallels, fast broken chords, tone repetitions, sixteenth notes, etc. However, Walsingham is by no means a cold, etude-like series of technical problems, but rather determined by a principle of intensification, and again and again by Poetic or more profound moments interrupted - a fireworks display. Technically even more demanding, with long sixteenth runs in both hands at the same time, numerous thirds and sixths parallels in fast runs and others, e.g. Some rhythmic finesse are Bull's version of Quadran Pavan with Variatio and Galliard , and a very virtuoso Ut Re Mi Fa Sol La ( Fitzwilliam Virginal Book , vol. 2, p. 281 ) ; the latter, of course, too long and dry for the modern ear.

Bull's musically most important, beautiful and profound works include his Pavans and Galliards in general. Among them stand out in particular: The so-called Fantastic Pavan (name not from Bull), for which there are two billion; and the Chromatic Pavan and Galliard , also known as Queen Elisabeth's Pavan , and possibly composed as funeral music after the Queen's death.

Bull's 'chromatic' (actually 'enharmonic') Ut Re Mi Fa Sol La , with hexachord inserts on all 12 pitches, is quite extraordinary and a brilliant compositional achievement ; Since this piece cannot be played in a mid-tone tuning, it was probably designed for a harpsichord cromatico with broken upper keys for the semitones, as they were mainly used in Italy (Trabaci, Ascanio Mayone ). The mysterious In Nomine IX , which is written in an extraordinary 11/4 time, also has a special position ; this piece is not only peppered with virtuoso parallels of thirds, but also musically ingenious and prepared with number symbolism according to the latest findings.

Bull's most important works also include some simpler, small character pieces that are often particularly charming and attractive, such as: B. The Duke of Brunswick's Alman , The Duchess of Brunswick's Toy , or Dr. Bull's Juel (= Jewel).

In addition to this extensive keyboard oeuvre, there are also some vocal and ensemble works, especially anthems, and over 120 instrumental canons (116 of which are about the Miserere ).

literature

  • Willi Apel , "Bull", in: History of Organ and Piano Music up to 1700 , published. and afterword by Siegbert Rampe, Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2004 (originally 1967), pp. 298-306.
  • Lydia Maria Blank: Reflections on the symbolism of John Bull's "In Nomine" IX . Taking into account some works by Parsley, Tye, Strogers, Mallory, Alwood and engl. Anonymous. In: European Journal of Musicology . 15th year, January 2016, ISSN  2504-1916 , p. 71–111 ( european-musicology.eu [PDF; accessed on March 16, 2017]).
  • Werner Braun, "Bull", in: Music in past and present , vol. 3, personal section, Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2000, pp. 1233–1239.
  • Manfred Bukofzer , Music in the Baroque Era . New York, WW Norton & Co., 1947. ISBN 0-393-09745-5 (English)
  • Thurston Dart, "Calendar of the Life of John Bull", Introduction to: John Bull: Keyboard Music I ( Musica Britannica 14) , ed. by J. Steele u. Francis Cameron, rev. by Alan Brown, London: Stainer & Bell, 1960, rev. 1970, pp. Xxi-xxv.
  • Pieter Dirksen , "Towards a canon of the keyboard music of John Bull", in: Aspects of Early English Keyboard Music to c.1630 , ed. by David J. Smith (Ashgate Historical Keyboard Series, Oxon / New York: Routledge, 2019), pp. 184–206.
  • Susi Jeans & OW Neighbor, "Bull, John", in: The New Grove , Vol. 4 (ed. By Stanley Sadie, 2nd ed.), London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001, pp. 584-591.
  • Gustave Reese , Music in the Renaissance . New York, WW Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0-393-09530-4 (English)

Sheet music editions

  • John Bull, Keyboard Music I (Musica Britannica 14) , ed. by J. Steele u. Francis Cameron, rev. by Alan Brown, London: Stainer & Bell, 1960/2001.
  • John Bull, Keyboard Music II (Musica Britannica 19) , ed. of Thurston Dart, London: Stainer & Bell, rev. by Alan Brown, 1960/2016.
  • The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (revised Dover Edition), 2 vol., Ed. by JA Fuller Maitland u. W. Barclay Squire, corrected et al. ed. by Blanche Winogron, New York: Dover Publications, 1979/1980.
  • PARTHENIA or the Maydenhead of the first musicke that ever was printed for the Virginalls , New York: Performer's Facsimiles, 1985

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thurston Dart, "Calendar of the Life of John Bull", Introduction to: John Bull: Keyboard Music I ( Musica Britannica 14) , 1960, rev. 1970, p. Xxii.
  2. ↑ Susie Jeans, (OW Neighbor): Bull, John . In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove . 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Macmillan Publishers, London 2001, pp. 585 (Bull could presumably read Latin but could not speak; see Thurston Dart, Calendar of the Life of John Bull, (in Musica Britannica 14), 1960, rev. 1970, p. Xxii.).
  3. ↑ Susie Jeans, (OW Neighbor): Bull, John . In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove . 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Macmillan Publishers, London 2001, pp. 585 .
  4. ↑ Susie Jeans, (OW Neighbor): Bull, John . In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove . 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Macmillan Publishers, London 2001, pp. 585 .
  5. ^ Thurston Dart, "Calendar of the Life of John Bull", Introduction to: John Bull: Keyboard Music I ( Musica Britannica 14) , 1960, rev. 1970, pp. Xxiii. See also: Susi Jeans (& OW Neighbor), "Bull, John", in: The New Grove , Vol. 4, 2001, p. 585. Susie Jeans claims that the bride was already pregnant and that Bull had to marry her .
  6. ↑ Susie Jeans, (OW Neighbor): Bull, John . In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove . 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Macmillan Publishers, London 2001, pp. 585, 586 .
  7. ↑ Susie Jeans, (OW Neighbor): Bull, John . In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove . 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Macmillan Publisher, London 2001, pp. 586 .
  8. ↑ Susie Jeans, (OW Neighbor): Bull, John . In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove . 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Macmillan Publishers, London 2001, pp. 586 .
  9. ^ Thurston Dart, "Calendar of the Life of John Bull", Introduction to: John Bull: Keyboard Music I ( Musica Britannica 14) , 1960, rev. 1970, p. Xxiv.
  10. ↑ This is what George Abbott, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote in a letter dated December 1613 to Sir William Trumbull, the English envoy in Brussels. Bull came into a church shortly before the beginning of the prayer, then: "... as the minister was entering into service, in the sight of the congregation Bull pulled him violently out of his seat, and despitefully intreated him." See: Susie Jeans, "Bull, John", in: The New Grove , Vol. 4 (2nd ed. By Stanley Sadie), London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001, p. 586. Interestingly, this incident is ignored by most authors , they focus almost entirely on allegations of adultery and unchaste conduct ('Sex and Crime' is apparently more interesting). Strangely enough, it never seems to have occurred to anyone to ask why Bull might have treated the priest like that (if that's even true ...). What happened before Or did Bull just go nuts (e.g. in the course of a manic-depressive illness, where those affected can become euphoric and aggressive and do completely crazy things)?
  11. ↑ Susie Jeans, (OW Neighbor): Bull, John . In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove . 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Macmillan Publishers, London 2001, pp. 586 .
  12. ↑ Susie Jeans, (OW Neighbor): Bull, John . In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove . 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Macmillan Publishers, London 2001, pp. 586 .
  13. ↑ Proven for 1616; see Thurston Dart, "Calendar of the Life of John Bull", Introduction to: John Bull: Keyboard Music I ( Musica Britannica 14) , 1960, rev. 1970, p. Xxiv. See also: Susi Jeans (& OW Neighbor), "Bull, John", in: The New Grove , Vol. 4, 2001, p. 586.
  14. ^ Susi Jeans, (OW Neighbor): Bull, John . In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove . 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Macmillan Publishers, London 2001, pp. 586 .
  15. ↑ Werner Braun: Bull, John . In: Music in the past and present . tape 3 , person part. Kassel et al. 2000, p. 1234 .
  16. ^ Willi Apel: History of organ and piano music up to 1700 . Bärenreiter, Kassel et al. 2004, p. 299 .
  17. ^ Willi Apel: History of organ and piano music up to 1700 . Bärenreiter, Kassel et al. 2004, p. 301-302 .
  18. ^ Lydia Maria Blank: Reflections on the symbolism of John Bull's "In Nomine" IX . Taking into account some works by Parsley, Tye, Strogers, Mallory, Alwood and engl. Anonymous. In: European Journal of Musicology . 15th year, January 2016, ISSN  2504-1916 , p. 71–111 ( european-musicology.eu [PDF; accessed on March 16, 2017]).
  19. ↑ Bull's Juel exists in a simple early version, which is widespread and also in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (No. CXXXVIII, vol. 2, p. 128ff), and in a more complicated later version, which he is said to have composed for Jacques Champion in 1621 ( Musica Britannica 19, No. 142, p. 216ff). See also: Thurston Dart, "Calendar of the Life of John Bull", Introduction to: John Bull: Keyboard Music I (Musica Britannica 14) , 1960, rev. 1970, p. Xxv.
  20. ↑ Werner Braun: Bull, John . In: Music in the past and present . tape 3 , person part. Bärenreiter, Kassel et al. 2000, p. 1237 .
personal data
SURNAME Bull, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English organist, harpsichordist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH 1562 or 1563
PLACE OF BIRTH Somerset
DATE OF DEATH March 13, 1628
Place of death Antwerp