Biographical Dictionary of English Court Musicians, 1485-1714, Volumes I and II

Andrew Ashbee is a lecturer for the Worker's Educational Association. His series RECM has received wide acclaim. David Lasocki is Head of Reference Services in the Music Library at Indiana University, USA, and author of The Bassanos. Peter Holman is Lecturer in Music at King's College, London and Director of The Parley of Instruments. Fiona Kisby is a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow in music at Royal Holloway, University of London. She has completed her PhD on The Royal Household Chapel in Early-Tudor London, 1485-1547 (London 1996), sections of which have recently been published in Early Music and Early Music History.

Prize: Winner of the C.B. Oldman Prize, 2000, awarded by the UK and Ireland Branch of the International Association of Music Libraries. A vast amount of information is encompassed in a surprisingly easy-to-read style. The authors...are to be congratulated for achieving so thorough a task with such success. Everyone working on English music of the period will need a readily accessible copy. Early Music Review ...a prodigious work of reference...This publication brings to a conclusion an extraordinary effort of dedication to scholarship. It is good that Ashbee‘s publisher has provided sturdy casing and a strong binding, for these are books which will be in constant use. Like Tippex and parcel tape, we will soon be wondering how we ever did without them. Early Music 'Those who work on English music in the age of Cornish or Byrd, Child, or Purcell will at some stage almost certainly need to consult these volumes.' Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music It is one of the essential reference tools for anyone with a serious interest in English music during the Renaissance and Baroque periods...It is hard to imagine a more formidable gourp of scholars to deal with the biographies of English court musicians. This two-volume set is immensely valuable and important. Historic Brass Society Journal

• Contents: Volume I: (646 pages); Introduction; Notes on entries; Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; Bibliographical codes; Names: a Finding List for Variants; The Dictionary: A-H. Volume II: (635 pages); The Dictionary: I-Z; The Succession of Places of Court Musicians: The Private Music; strings, keyboard, wind, drums; Trumpeters; The Chapel Royal men; Tables showing family connections between court musicians; Index of Subjects and Places; Addenda.