John Bull (1562 or 1563–March 12, 1628) was an English composer, musician, and organ builder. He was a renowned keyboard performer and most of his compositions were written for this medium.
Life
He was probably born in Radnorshire in Wales. In 1573 he joined the choir at Hereford cathedral, and the next year joined the Children of the Chapel Royal in London, where he studied with William Blitheman and William Hunnis; in addition to singing he learned to play the organ at this time.
In 1586 he received his degree from Oxford, and he became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal that same year. In 1591 he became organist at the Chapel Royal; in 1592 he received his doctorate from Oxford, and in 1596 he became professor of music at Gresham College on the recommendation of Queen Elizabeth. On the death of Elizabeth, he entered into the service of King James. Throughout this time he was establishing a reputation for himself as a skilled composer, keyboard performer and improviser.
However, in addition to his virtuosity as a keyboard performer and composer, he was also skilled at getting into trouble. He was forced to leave his post at Gresham College when he impregnated a woman pre-maritally; even though he filed a marriage license two days after he lost his job, he never returned to the college. He was also charged with breaking and entering in a bizarre case which involved his attempt to evict the previous tenant of the rooms he was assigned, and an action was filed against Bull in Star Chamber but the outcome of this case is not known.
Bull left England secretly and with great haste in 1613, fleeing the wrath of the Archbishop of Canterbury and King James I himself; the charge this time was adultery. The English envoy in the Low Countries, after first attempting to cover for him--but later fearing for his own position if he continued to do so--wrote to the King in early 1614,
- ...Bull did not leave your Majesties service for any wrong done to him ... but did in that dishonest matter steal out of England through the guilt of a corrupt conscience, to escape the punishment, which notoriously he had deserved, and was designed to have been inflicted on him by the hand of justice, for his incontinence, fornication, adultery, and other grievous crimes.
The Archbishop of Canterbury had said of him the previous year: "the man hath more music than honesty and is as famous for marring of virginity as he is for fingering of organs and virginals."
Bull remained in the Netherlands, where it seems he stayed out of trouble. In 1615 Antwerp Cathedral appointed him as assistant organist, and as principal organist in 1617. Bull wrote a series of letters while in the Netherlands, including one to the mayor of Antwerp, claiming that the reason he left England was to escape religious persecution, since he was a Catholic; he seems to have been believed, for he was never extradited back to England. While in Antwerp he met Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, the most influential keyboard composer of the age.
In the 1620s he continued his career as an organist, organ builder and consultant. He died in Antwerp.
Works
Bull was one of the most famous composers of keyboard music of the early 17th century, exceeded only by Sweelinck in the Netherlands and Frescobaldi in Italy. He left many compositions for virginals, some of which were collected in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.
His first publication, in 1612 or 1613, was a collection of virginal music entitled Parthenia, or the Maydenhead, which he dedicated to the 15-year-old Princess Elizabeth, who was his student. It is not known if this title provoked comment or laughter, but considering Doctor Bull's history and character, it is not improbable. He also wrote an anthem, God the father, God the son, for the wedding in 1613 of the Princess to Prince Friedrich, the Elector Palatinate.
In addition to his keyboard compositions, he wrote verse anthems, canons and other works. Much of his music was lost when he fled England; some was destroyed, and some was stolen by other composers, though occasionally such misattributions can be corrected today based on stylistic grounds. One of the most unusual collections of music from the period is his book of 120 canons, an astonishing display of contrapuntal skill worthy of Ockeghem or J.S. Bach. 116 of the 120 are based on the Miserere. Techniques employed to transform the simple theme include diminution, augmentation, retrograde and mixed time signatures. Some of his music in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book is of a lighter character, and uses whimsical titles: "A Battle and No Battle," "Bonny Peg of Ramsey," "The King's Hunt," "Bull's Good-Night."
Sources and further reading
- Article "John Bull," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1561591742
- The Concise Edition of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed. Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky. New York, Schirmer Books, 1993. ISBN 002872416X
- Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0393095304
- Manfred Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947. ISBN 0393097455
