DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

22 FERRABOSCO FERRABOSCO
pleasure. It is possible that he had arrived
some years earlier, for in 1564 he speaks of ' his
long service '
and
of ' his youth and health spent
in the Queen's service,' but it would probably
be a mistake to attach much importance to
phrases of tliis kind. In a letter to the Earl of
Leicester he states that he had left Bologna
"without the necessary licence from the Inquisi-
tion, which had consequently confiscated the
property which his father had left him. His
father, however, was alive for some years afterwards,
and it is probable that his letters (of
which many exist written to Leicester, Sussex,
and Sir William Cecil) were rather intended to
excite the interest and generosity of his patrons
than to contain an exact narrative of facts.
These letters (dating from Oct. 1564), besides
excuses for non-attendance at Court on account
of ill-health, etc., are chiefly taken up with
reasons why the Queen's bounty should be farther
extended to him. On Sept. 10, 1567, he heard
that the Queen had granted him a pension for
his life so long as he remained in her service,
-and wrote to ask that this might be secured to
him in case of her death by the insertion into
the Patent of the words ' heredibus et suecessoribus
nostris. ' Perhaps partly on this account,
but also on account of the unfriendly construction
which his enemies put upon a visit paid by
liim to the French Ambassador, on Sept. 23 he
was in disgrace, and the Queen refused to see
him. To add to his troubles, a young foreign
musician of Sir Philip Sidney's household was
murdered as he w^as going to Court to exhibit
his skill, and Court gossip acous(>d Ferrabosco
of killing him out of jealousy. He indignantly
wrote to Sussex to protest his innocence (Oct. 13,
1567), saying that the young man was a friend
of his, and that he was in the country when the
affair happened. In a later letter (Dec. 28) he
complains that until the Queen consentcil to
receive him, it was generally supposed abroad,
as well as in England, that he was guilty of the
murder. After some delay the matter was
settled, and in March 1563-69, Ferrabosco, in
writing, bound himself to the Queen's service
for life, and received a pension of £100 a year.
The Patent dated March 26, 1569, contains the
words 'heredibus et successoribus nostris.' At
thesame time Alfonso obtained leave(after pledging
himself to return) to visit Italy in order to
settle his atfairs. Accordingly, on June 25, he
writes from Paris where he was delayed, partly
by business which he was arranging with a
brother who was to accompany him to Italy, and
partly through having been robbed of all his
property by his English servant. He writes
from Bologna on Oct. 30 of this year, promising
to return with as little delay as possible, but in
September of the following year he is still making
excuses from Bologna ; besides ill-health and
business, he is delayed by the difficulty in obtaining
the Pope's licence, without which he did not
dare to travel in prohibited places, for fear of
leaving his family at the mercy of the Inquisi-
tion. He did, however, eventually return to
England, and in .June 1572, was concerned in
a Masque presented before the (Jueen and the
French Amljassador. He appears to have remained
in England (probably living at Greenwich,
where his son Alfonso was born) till the
year 1578, when he finally quitted the country,
and (in spite of having bound himself never to
enter any other service than that of the Queen)
entered the ser-vdce of the Duke of Savoy, at
whose Court he was given some appointment,
for he describes himself as
Altezza di Savoia.' He left his two children
in England, where they remained in the charge
of Corner van Austerwyke, one of the Queen's
Musicians. Six years later he sent for them,
but the Queen refused to let them go (perhaps
regarding them as hostages for the return of
their father), and Austerwyke was still unpaid
for their keeji at the date of Ferrabosco's death,
which took place at Turin in 1588.
The eldest Alfonso Ferrabosco was the most
important of the Italian musicians wJio lived
in England in the 16th century, and was held
' Gentil'huomo dell'
in high estimation among his contemporaries.
'For judgment and depth of skill,' says
Peacham in 1622, 'he was inferior to none;
what he did was most elaborate and profound,
and pleasing enough in Aire, though Master
Thomas Morley censureth him otherwise. That
of his Isav) my Lcu/Ae weeping, and the XighUngaU
(upon Avhich Dittie Master Bird and he in
a friendly aemulation exercised their in\'ention)
cannot be bettered forsweetnesse of Aire or depth
of judgement. ' Morley tells us of another 'vertuous
contention' between him and Bj'rd 'made
upon the plaine song Miserere, which contention
of theirs (specially without enide) caused them
both to become excellent in that kinde, and
winne such a name, and gaine such credit, as
will never perish so long as Musick endureth.'
The results of this contention, in which each
composer set the plain-song in forty different
ways, were printed by East in 1603, under the
title of ' Medulla Musicke '
; no copy of it, how-
ever, is now known to exist.
His other printed works are : a five-part
madrigal 'Tu dole' anima,' contributed to Pever-
nage's ' Harmonia Celeste' (Antwerp, 1583).
Two Sets of five-part madrigals by him appeared
at Venice in 1587 ; the first set containing
twenty madrigals is dedicated to the Duke
of Savoy ; the second set containing nineteen
madrigals is dedicated to the Duchess of Savoy.
Many of his madrigals found their way into
English collections: 'MusieaTransalpina' (1588)
contains fourteen by him ;
' Musica Transal-
pina' (1597) contains six five are ; in Jlorley's
collection of 1598. Many of these are taken
from the two Sets of 1587.
Two pieces for the lute ' by the most Artificial!