John Jenkins (composer)

John Jenkins (* 1592 in Maidstone , Kent ; † 1678 in Kimberley, Norfolk ) was an English composer , viola player and lutenist .

Life

There are no known facts about John Jenkins' youth. Apparently he was the son of a carpenter and occasional instrument maker. The first documented date is his participation in the masque The Triumph of Peace , which was performed at the London court of King Charles I in 1634 . Jenkins worked here at court primarily as a lute virtuoso, but also mastered other stringed instruments.

The English civil war that broke out in 1642 forced him to flee to the countryside. During the hard times of war he tried to get by as a musician with various loyal employers. He was friends with the composer William Lawes, who died in 1645 .

In 1646 he composed a large program of music to celebrate the victory at Newark, in which he tried to musically reproduce the fighting, the mourning for the fallen and the cheers for victory. We have met him since 1650 as a Music Master on the country estate of Baron North in Cambridgeshire, whose son Roger North , in his memories, attributed a noble style of music to him. Although he had spent most of his life in the service of various noble families, he worked again after the war under Charles II at the London royal court.

Towards the end of his life he retired to Sir Philip Wodehouse's country estate in Kimberley, where he died at the age of 86. He was buried in St. Peter's Church in Kimberley, Norfolk.

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Jenkins was a versatile, prolific, and immensely popular composer of his day. His settings of the lyrics by George Herbert are evidence of deep religiousness. Influenced by the polyphonic style of William Byrd , one recognizes the concertante style of Henry Purcell in his later works . He composed hundreds of fantasies, dance suites, ballets, trio sonatas and five-part sarabands .

Web links

• Sheet music and audio files by John Jenkins (composer) in the International Music Score Library Project