John Bartlet, also John Bartlett, (fl.

Floruit

Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

 1606-1610) was an English Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 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...

. He was employed as a musician by Sir Edward Seymour, Earl 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....

 (1539–1621), and accompanied him on a diplomatic visit to Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 in 1605. In Bartlet's only publication he describes himself as a "Gentleman and Practitioner in this art," claiming a connection to a coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

.

Bartlet's only publication was A Booke of Ayres with a Triplicitie of Musicke, published in 1606. The works of the first part are for four voices accompanied by 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....

 or orpharion

Orpharion

The orpharion or opherion is a plucked instrument from the Renaissance. It is part of the cittern family. Its construction is similar to the larger bandora. The metal strings are tuned like a lute and are plucked with the fingers. Therefore, the orpharion can be used instead of a lute...

 and viola da gamba

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...

 (the lute part mostly doubles the four voice parts). The second part consists of works for two trebles, the third part for solo voice.

Although A Book of Ayres is described by Peter Warlock

Peter Warlock

Peter Warlock was a pseudonym of Philip Arnold Heseltine , an Anglo-Welsh composer and music critic. He used the pseudonym when composing, and is now better known by this name....

 as containing "a good deal of very commonplace stuff," many of his musical settings work very well, especially the homorhythmic madrigal-like settings. Bartlet's music was widely popular in its time, appearing in many later manuscripts and prints.

External links

• John Bartlet MIDI files and song texts at English Lute Songs and other Lute Music
• John Bartlet MIDI file "When From My Love" Tony Catalano's Classical Guitar MIDI Page