Today in 1628 the composer John Bull died in Antwerp, in the Spanish Netherlands.
He is one of the English composers who bridged the gap between purely Renaissance music, and the keyboard music that morphed into the Baroque Style. His keyboard music is technically demanding, and while he did write vocal music, it’s his keyboard music that survives, with over 150 pieces still available.
He was born around 1582 in Wales, and was educated as a chorister in the Chapel Royal. He became a doctor of music at both Oxford and Cambridge, but then he became a professor at the newly formed Gresham College – remember we talked about Gresham College in the context of Thomas Gresham, the financier and merchant who founded the Royal Exchange.
Bull left England to serve in Brussels, and in 1616 he became the organist at the Cathedral of Antwerp.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com where there is an episode on the music of the Elizabethan Renaissance.
Suggested links:
Episode 14: Intro to English Renaissance Music
Episode 025 Music Part 2 and the Chapel Royal
Episode 094: Gresham, The Royal Exchange, and England’s First Mall
Dr. David Skinner interview on music of 16th century England
From the shop:
Celebrations of Elizabeth I Collection
Featuring: Elizabeth I Carry-All Pouch
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop.
She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 30 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history (how exciting when she got to interview Alison for the first time!). In addition to history, she is passionate about travel, and has lived in 3 countries and 4 states (not counting her perpetual state of confusion), and her family (who help her host her YouTube channel occasionally).
