Some unobserved
information about
John Dowland, Thomas Campion
and Philip Rosseter
By
Kenneth Sparr
Stockholm,
Sweden 1987
Updated 2015-05-01
Kenneth Sparr
During my
research on the history of the lute in Sweden I happened to stumble across some
information about John Dowland, Thomas Campion, and Philip Rosseter, which
seems to be unknown to modern biographers of these composers.(1)
As a matter of fact this information has been available in print since 1929,
when Hanns Bauer published his article 'Alt-Elbinger Stammbücher in der Stadtbücherei',
(i.e. libri amicorum from old Elbing
in the City Library).(2) However it is more surprising that
Hans-Peter Kosack could have overlooked Bauer's article, as he must have had
this particular journal before his eyes when he prepared his interesting, and
valuable study, Geschichte der Laute und
Lautenmusik in Preussen.(3) It is even more
odd, considering that Kosack devotes an entire chapter of his study to English
influences on Prussian lute music. Hanns Bauer gives a thorough description of
the libri amicorum, but only one of them is under consideration here: the
'Stammbuch des Hans von Bodeck'. Before going into further detail it is
appropriate to give a short background.
The town of Elbing , now Elbląg in Poland, is situated near
the Baltic in the former German province of East Prussia. Elbing was founded by
the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century, joined the Hanseatic League, and was
its most important town in Prussia until well into the 14th century, when it
was surpassed by Danzig (Gdańsk).
Between 1550 and 1650 the town enjoyed a new era of prosperity. By 1580 it had
become the chief East Prussian port in trade with England. Quite a few
Englishmen and Scotsmen settled in Elbing, and took an active part in the daily
life of the town.
Hans von Bodeck
(1582-1658) belonged to an old and prominent family in Elbing. His grandfather
was mayor and his father councillor of the town. Like many other young men from
wealthy families, Hans was sent on a tour through Europe in 1597, to study, and
to establish valuable connections with people of importance. The tour is well
documented in Bodeck's liber amicorum, which follows the form common at the
time: autographs, proverbs, devices, and drawings by people he met. The book
contains no fewer than 256 entries, and covers the period from 1597 to 1609.
Bodeck visited different parts of Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands,
England, and France.
Bodeck's stay in
England lasted from April 1602 until September 1604, and considering the active
trade between England and Elbing he had good reasons to stay so long. The
second part of 1602 Bodeck spent at the University of Cambridge, but in January
1603 he moved to Oxford. In his book are to be found entries from Oxford, for
example those made by 'Rob. Willughbeus' and 'primus in Academia Publica
Bodleriana Bibliothecarius Thomas James'. There are no entries between March
and the middle of August 1603, and it is possible that he then was visiting
other parts of England, perhaps London to witness the funeral ceremonies of
Queen Elizabeth I and the entry of King James I. For the latter occasion the
Council of Elbing had sent two delegates with a double mission: on the one hand
to pay respect to the king, and on the other to oppose the transfer of English
trade from Elbing to Danzig.
In March 1604
Bodeck left Oxford for London, where he stayed until September. One of Bodeck's
missions there might have been to inform his home town about the point of view
of the Polish envoy, Stanislaus Czikowski, concerning Elbing as a port for
English goods. During Bodeck's stay in London he certainly met John Dowland,
Thomas Campion and Phillip Rosseter, as they all made entries in his book. The
first was Dowland, whose entry was dated 9 May 1604, and consisted of a short
piece of music for the lute, together with the autograph 'Jo. Dowlande'. This
confirms that Dowland did not leave England for Denmark before this date. (4)
Perhaps it was Dowland who introduced Bodeck to Campion and Rosseter. The
three composers all lived in the same district of London. The entry of Campion
or 'Campianus' is dated 24 August 1604, and it is more extensive than that of
Dowland. The text is as follows:
Thy fair youth
fram'd for delight,
Fitt to slepe in bedds of flowers,
To thy thirstye watchful spright
Stricktly measures all thine howres;
And thy ages steward playes
To enrich thy elder dayes.
Fruitful to thy
native soile,
Joyful to thy home-borne frends,
Through the peril, and the toyle,
Which both sea and land attends,
Mayst thou safe arrived be,
Myndful of thy love and me.
Underneath the
music the following is written:
Hinc avertite
turba Musicorum
Curiosa nimis graves ocellos;
Facit delitias suo sodali
Mollis, et sibi Campianus impar.
Campion's song
was probably written specifically for Bodeck, and this, as well as the meaning
of the text, implies that they had developed a rather close friendship. The
entry also makes it clear that Campion was in London at this time.(5)
Unfortunately Hanns Bauer gives no details about the entry by Philip Rosseter
other than that it was dated 1604. However, another entry was made by a Hanns
von Garyn 'in Londens Fletstreets Mr. Rosseter Haus' on 21 August 1604.
Incidentally, in
September 1604 Bodeck left London for Paris, where he met the Count Christoph
von Dohna-Schlobitten. The Count's brother, Achatius, bought a collection of
music by Dowland and others while on a visit to London and this collection was
kept at the castle of Schlobitten, situated only 15 kilometres from Elbing.(6)
The rest of Bodeck's tour is of no interest in this context, and it is
sufficient to mention that he later became councillor to the Elector of
Brandenburg.
My original
intention was to present facsimiles of the relevant pages of Bodeck's book, but
unfortunately the book must be considered as lost during World War II. I have
searched for it for almost a year, but without success.(7)
Elbing was severely damaged during the Russian invasion at the end of World War
II, the library was completely destroyed, and its collections had not been
evacuated. There is, of course, a very slight possibility that Bodeck's book
was dispersed and may turn up some day. However, Hanns Bauer has given a fairly
detailed description of Bodeck's liber amicorum, and has thereby saved part of
it for the future. In conclusion it is worth noting that surviving libri amicorum from the 16th and 17th
centuries may contain valuable information for the musicologist, and it may
prove worthwhile to pay more attention to them. The liber amicorum of Achatius zu Dohna (father of Achatius mentioned
above), for example, contains no fewer than 52 pieces for the lute and one entry
made by Valentin Bakfark.(8)
This article has
been published in The Lute Vol. XXVII
(1987) pp. 35-37.
Notes
1. I have examined the following: Diana Poulton, John Dowland (London, revised edn.
1982); John Ward, 'A Dowland Miscellany', Journal
of the Lute Society of America, 10 (1977); Edward Lowbury, Timothy Salter
and Alison Young, Thomas Campion: Poet,
Composer and Physician (London, 1970); Percival Vivian (ed.), Campion's Works (Oxford, 1909); Walter
R. Davis (ed.), The Works of Thomas
Campion (London, 1969); Nigel Fortune, 'Philip Rosseter', Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart
(Kassel, 1963), pp. 930ff; Christian Vlaam, Rosseters in Holland', Journal of the Galpin Society, 11
(1958), pp. 63ff; Nigel Fortune, 'Philip Rosseter and his Songs', Lute Society Journal, 7 (1965), p. 7ff;
Ian Harwood, 'Rosseter's Lessons for Consort of 1609', Lute Society Journal, 7 (1965), pp. 15ff. Back
2. Elbinger Jahrbuch, 8 (1929), pp. 151ff. All information on
Hans von Bodeck and his book is taken from this article. Back
3. Hans-Peter
Kosack, Geschichte der Laute und
Lautenmusik in Preussen (Würzburg, 1934), p. 94. Back
4. Poulton, John Dowland, p. 62. Back
5. Lowbury, Thomas Campion, p. 24, says that nothing
is known about Campion's activities in England between 1602 and 1606. Back
6. Kosack, Geschichte, pp. 44ff; cited by Ward, 'A
Dowland Miscellany', p. 144. Most of the collection was acquired by Robert
Spencer when it was sold at auction in 1984 and is now kept at the Royal cademy
of Music in London. Back
7. I have made
inquiries to the following institutions in Poland and West Germany: Wojewódzka i
Miejska Biblioteka Publiczna, Elblag; Powiatowa Biblioteka Publiczna, Elblag;
Archiwum Panstwowe w Elblagu, Elblag; Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna, Gdansk;
Biblioteka Gdanska PAN, Gdansk; Archiwum Panstwowe w Gdansku, Gdansk;
Biblioteka Glowna Uniwersytetu Mikolaja Kopernika, Torun; Biblioteka
Universytecka, Lódz; Geheimes Staatsarchiv, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin;
Stadtarchiv, Bremerhaven; Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Institut, Marburg; Haus der
Deutschen Ostens, Düsseldorf; Truso-Vereinigung, Hans W. Hoppe, Ahlhorn. I have
also made enquiries to the editors of the journals Zeitschrift für Ostforschung and Der Archivar. Back
8. Hans-Peter
Kosack, 'Die Lautentabulaturen im Stammbuch des Burggrafen Achatius zu Dohna', Altpreussische Beiträge: Festschrift zur
Hauptversammlung des Gesamtvereins der deutschen geschichte- und
Altertums-Vereine zu Königsberg Pr. Vom 4. Bis 7 September 1933 (Königsberg,
1933), pp. 48ff. Back