Name Thomas Ravenscroft Role Composer | ||
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Died 1633, London, United Kingdom Books Pammelia, A Briefe Discourse (1614) Similar People De Hunekop, The City Waites, John Dowland, Thomas Campion, The Balti Consort | ||
Education University of Cambridge | ||
Psalm 98 bay psalm book 1640 by thomas ravenscroft ca 1590 ca 1635
Thomas Ravenscroft (c. 1588 – 1635) was an English musician, theorist and editor, notable as a composer of rounds and catches, and especially for compiling collections of British folk music.
Contents
- Psalm 98 bay psalm book 1640 by thomas ravenscroft ca 1590 ca 1635
- The Three Ravens Thomas Ravenscroft Beginners Guitar Guide by Jeffrey Goodman
- References
Little is known of Ravenscroft's early life. He probably sang in the choir of St. Paul's Cathedral from 1594, when a Thomas Raniscroft was listed on the choir rolls and remained there until 1600 under the directorship of Thomas Giles. He received his bachelor's degree in 1605 from Cambridge.
Ravenscroft's principal contributions are his collections of folk music, including catches, rounds, street cries, vendor songs, "freeman's songs" and other anonymous music, in three collections: Pammelia (1609), Deuteromelia or The Seconde Part of Musicks Melodie (1609) and Melismata (1611), which contains one of the best-known works in his collections, The Three Ravens. Some of the music he compiled has acquired extraordinary fame, though his name is rarely associated with the music; for example "Three Blind Mice" first appears in Deuteromelia. He also published a metrical psalter (The Whole Booke of Psalmes) in 1621. As a composer, his works are mostly forgotten but include 11 anthems, 3 motets for five voices and 4 fantasias for viols.
As a writer, he wrote two treatises on music theory: A Briefe Discourse of the True (but Neglected) Use of Charact'ring the Degrees (London, 1614), and A Treatise of Musick, which remains in manuscript (unpublished).