Copy Book Archive

John Playford In England’s brief but dismal experiment as a Republic, Playford saved traditional English dance music from destruction.
1623-1686
Music: John Playford (ed.)

© Sara Guasteví, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0. Source

About this picture …

A late-17th century viola da gamba by Joachim Tielke, in the Museu de la Música de Barcelona.

John Playford
For eleven years, 17th century England experimented with being a republic. Unsurprisingly, elected politicians turned out to be just as corrupt and oppressive as unelected ones, and but for John Playford, they would have robbed us of the country’s musical heritage.

THE republican Commonwealth of England ruled by Oliver Cromwell from 1649 used government legislation to suppress theatre, dancing, church music, and festivals. John Playford (1623-1686), a music publisher in London, made sure to collect as much music as he could, before it was lost for ever.

His ‘English Dancing Master’ saved dozens of traditional dances for future generations, such as ‘Mr Beveridge’s Maggot’, well-known to modern audiences from a BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’.

Playford was rewarded by the return of the monarchy under King Charles II in 1660, and became a celebrity music-publisher whose shop near the Temple Church in London was a gathering place for fashionable society.

Playford wrote, arranged and published more serious music as well, such as ‘The Division Violin’ (1685), expressing regret that in the later 17th century ‘all solemn musick was much laid aside, being esteemed too heavy and dull for the light heels and brains of this nimble and wanton age’.

Précis

John Playford was a 17th-century music-publisher, who saved dozens of traditional dance tunes for furture generations during the Interregnum, some of which are still played and loved today. He also fostered more serious music, and regretted what he saw as its decline in high society towards the end of his lifetime. (51 / 60 words)

Related Video

In Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice” (1813), Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy become acquainted at a local dance. For the BBC’s acclaimed adaptation, the music came from John Playford’s ‘English Dancing Master’.

Suggested Music

Faronell’s Division on a Ground — La Folia

John Playford (ed.) (1623-1686)

Performed by Ensemble Hespèrion XXI.

Media not showing? Let me know!

Related Posts

for John Playford

Lives of the Saints

The Thrice-Holy Hymn

When the capital of the Roman Empire was in the grip of a violent earthquake, it fell to one small child to save all the people.

Russian History

Prav’, Britaniya!

Herbert Bury’s duties took him back to St Petersburg after the Russian revolution of 1917, but all he could think of was how it used to be.

Extracts from Literature

At a Solemn Musick

John Milton shows his appreciation for noble words and music in uplifting harmony.

Lives of the Saints

Caedmon Learns to Sing

A shy and unmusical stable-hand suddenly began to sing wise and moving hymns.

Music and Musicians (64)
All Stories (1522)
Worksheets (14)
Word Games (5)