Joseph Lupo was an Italian 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 composer active for 40 years or more at the court of Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

. His brother Peter

Peter Lupo

Peter Lupo was an Italian viol player and composer active for 40 years or more at the court of Elizabeth I of England. Born in Venice to Ambrose Lupo and his first wife Lucia, he and his brother Joseph first went to Antwerp, where Peter joined the musicians' guild on 20 August 1557; He married his...

 and their father Ambrose

Ambrose Lupo

Ambrose, Ambrosius or Ambrosio Lupo was a court musician and composer to the English court from the time of Henry VIII to that of Elizabeth I and James I, and the first of a dynasty of such court musicians...

 also served as court musicians. Born in Venice to Ambrose and his first wife Lucia, he and his brother first went to Antwerp (where Joseph joined the musicians' guild on 20 August 1557) before moving to England, where Joseph succeeded another Italian, Paul Galliardello, who returned to Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 in May 1563. He married Laura, daughter of Alvise Bassano

Bassano

-Places:*Communes in Italy:**Bassano Bresciano, in the Province of Brescia**Bassano del Grappa, in the Province of Vicenza**Bassano in Teverina, in the Province of Viterbo**Bassano Romano, in the Province of Viterbo**San Bassano, in the Province of Cremona...

 and granddaughter of the musician Jeronimo Bassano

Jeronimo Bassano

Jeronimo Bassano was an Italian musician who is noteworthy for having been head of a family of musicians — Anthony Bassano, Jacomo, Alvise, Jasper, John and Baptista — who moved from Venice to England and the household of Henry VIII to serve the court...

 (again possibly Italian Jewish), and played at the funeral of Elizabeth I. His sons Thomas, probably born in London, and Horatio http://www.hoasm.org/IVM/LupoH.html also became a court musicians.

External links

• Peter Holman, Four and Twenty Fiddlers: The Violin at the English Court, 1540-1690 (Oxford University Press, 1993), page 104-105
• JSTOR: The English Royal Violin Consort in the Sixteenth Century
• Lanyer: A Renaissance Woman Poet
• HOASM: Joseph Lupo