John Cooper (composer)
Encyclopedia
John Cooper also known as Giovanni Coprario or Coperario, was an English
composer
, viol
player and lute
nist.
He changed his name in the early 17th century. It is often said he did this after a visit to Italy
, though there is no evidence he had been to the country. From 1622 he served and may have taught the Prince of Wales
, for whom he continued to work upon his succession as Charles I
. His long time patron
was Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford
, for whom he taught William Lawes
.
Among Cooper's works are fantasia
s, suite
s and other works for viol
s and violin
s, and two collections of song
s, Funeral Teares (1606) and Songs of Mourning: Bewailing the Untimely Death of Prince Henry (1613). He also penned the treatise on composition, Rules how to Compose.
According to Ernst Meyer, Cooper was a Londoner who italianized his name as Italian music and musicians became more fashionable, and spent much of his life as a musician in the royal court.
Ninety-six fantasias in between three and six voices, most of them in two Oxford and Royal College of Music collections, were known to exist by Cooper (as of 1946). (Meyer also notes that most of Cooper's five and six part fantasias are mainly transcriptions, or imitations, of his madrigal
s, but that his fantasias for three or four instrumental parts are, formally especially, independently interesting.)
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
player and lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
nist.
He changed his name in the early 17th century. It is often said he did this after a visit to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, though there is no evidence he had been to the country. From 1622 he served and may have taught the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
, for whom he continued to work upon his succession as Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
. His long time patron
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
was Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford
Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford
Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Baron Beauchamp of Hache and 1st Earl of Hertford, KG was the son of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, by his second wife Anne Stanhope....
, for whom he taught William Lawes
William Lawes
William Lawes was an English composer and musician.-Life and career:Lawes was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire and was baptised on 1 May 1602...
.
Among Cooper's works are fantasia
Fantasia (music)
The fantasia is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. Because of this, it seldom approximates the textbook rules of any strict musical form ....
s, suite
Suite
In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
s and other works for viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
s and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s, and two collections of song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s, Funeral Teares (1606) and Songs of Mourning: Bewailing the Untimely Death of Prince Henry (1613). He also penned the treatise on composition, Rules how to Compose.
According to Ernst Meyer, Cooper was a Londoner who italianized his name as Italian music and musicians became more fashionable, and spent much of his life as a musician in the royal court.
Ninety-six fantasias in between three and six voices, most of them in two Oxford and Royal College of Music collections, were known to exist by Cooper (as of 1946). (Meyer also notes that most of Cooper's five and six part fantasias are mainly transcriptions, or imitations, of his madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
s, but that his fantasias for three or four instrumental parts are, formally especially, independently interesting.)