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)