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Elizabethan Era’s composers endured the bubonic plagues. This event forever changed the

composition and text of music. In addition, to the changes in music, the plague brought about numerous

changes in the treatment of musicians. The bubonic plague changed the history of composition during

the Renaissance.

Queen Elizabeth I ruled over the throne in England from 1558 to 1603. Music continued to

develop amidst the strife of the plague. She was one of the largest patrons to the arts and had a taste for

music by particular composers that worked in her court. The advance of music during her reign in social

importance and artistic excellence closely paralleled that of literature.1 Without her prowess and

patronage during the plague’s outbreaks, there was a possibility for a hindrance in the development on

English music. Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of the late King Henry VIII learned how to play the

virginals along with her sister the late Queen Mary. Since Elizabeth’s I musical accomplishments and

predilections were so well known and must have served as models for so many of her subjects, scholars

are convinced Elizabeth I is an excellent example of a cultured amateur of the period.2 She learned at a

young age the enjoyment of music passed down from her father Henry VIII. She enjoyed all forms of

music and enjoyed ballet; she would dance to the music that was played for her.3 Ballet and composing

were not the only forms of music taught to her, she learned to play the lute and the virginals. Music

became part of her persona at the age of fourteen however many are unaware of how music influenced

her and how she influenced music.

Elizabethan music became traditional to the heritage of England. Numerous composers during

her reign composed songs for her and performed for her in court at her command. She alone brought

about a new process of compositional thought and inspiration that other English monarchs failed to

1 Morrison Comegys Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism ( Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1967), 1.2 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 7. 3 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 7.

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achieve. Singing was an integral part of English life long before the beautifully planned and well-sung

madrigals and airs had become popular.4 Elizabethan’s musical glory was achieved in the development

of secular vocal music. Scholars believe that Elizabethans enjoyed singing together socially in church

more than singing alone.5 Even in the church setting music was powerful, and brought people together.

Different forms of entertainment were used and developed court. One genre known as the masque

developed during her reign and was the most popular form of entertainment in her court. The masque

was a theater like entertainment that involved song, dance, and drama; it was England’s form before

they incorporated the opera. In addition, she increased the value of music as a social accomplishment by

playing it herself, and she aided it with her praise and her purse in every possible way, in church, at

court, and in the theater.6 Elizabeth I was a patron to those who worked in her court. Music had a calling

for Elizabeth and she helped encourage all those who wanted to obtain a chance at greatness. Without

Queen Elizabeth I ascent to the throne after the death of Queen Mary, English music would have been

without a praising role model.

Queen Elizabeth I was a patron of the arts and the artists of her court. Elizabeth is described as

the eternal feminine, capricious but intelligent, loved valor and inspired it in others, was well educated

and a patron of the arts.7 She was a profound musician herself. The playing virginals and the lute as well

as composing music was taught to her at a young age. She cultivated music assiduously at her court,

supported musicians from inclination as much as from a sense of duty and patronized them as

generously as her capricious nature would allow.8 Music of the Elizabethan Era is known for numerous

great composers and their music. Advances of music during her reign in both social importance and

artistic excellence is closely paralleled that of literature.9 Literature during this time began to develop 4 Dorothy E. Mason, Music in Elizabethan England. (Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia, 1975), 2. 5 Mason, Music in Elizabethan England, 4.6 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 12. 7 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 1.8 Eric Blom, Music In England (England: Pelican Books, 1947), 42-43. 9 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 1.

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into a new art form and helped form music for future composers. Elizabethan music owes Italy a great

deal of gratitude for helping shape their music and influence them.10 The English madrigal at its height,

however, was an artistic though sophisticated, union of elaborate verse and complicated music that

naturally appealed to the highly educated intelligentsia of Elizabethan England.11 Music was not limited

to the status of the citizens’, however, those with an education understood the verses, and underlying

meanings that most would not understand.

Visitors to England recorded the details of the music they heard during their visit. The English

excel in dancing and music, for they are active and lively, though of a thicker make than the

French….They are vastly fond of great noises that fill the air, such as the firing of cannons, drums, and

the ringing of bells.12 During these times’ some of the visitors were composers from other countries that

also worked in Elizabeth’s court. Scholars believe that the English habit of engaging the services of

continental musicians, which lasted well into the nineteenth century, did not begin with the great Tudor

queen.13 Scholars have speculated that Elizabeth I started the revolution of hiring foreign musicians,

however scholars believe that the Stuarts started this trend. Records show that there was an Italian

musician at her court during her reign named Alfonso Ferrabosco.14 Elizabethan music borrowed many

great composition ideas and genres from other European countries and allowed them to entertain in the

English court.

The bubonic plague ravaged all of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Citizens and

composers alike fled their homes to find safety away from the infected. Those who contracted the

disease died within eight days of the first signs of symptoms. During these days, they developed painful

10 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 205. 11 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 125. 12 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 219.13 Blom, Music in England, 46. 14 Blom, Music In England, 46.

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swellings in the lymph nodes as well as scaly, round, red oozing sores.15 The sores were the most notable

signs of having the plague, many feared being around family members and fled from their homes taking

as many as much as they could carry. In 1563, Alvares a Quadra, the Spanish Ambassadour in England

under Elizabeth I died from the plague.16 Even nobility was not safe from the plague while traveling or

staying in England. No one was safe from the spreading of the plague. Royalty fled at the first signs of

the plague and did not return, and several people of the court died from the plague including composers

and parliament. Jean Bodin (1530-1596), the French natural and political philosopher famous for

advocating religious tolerance, died of the plague, and it is assumed that dramatist John Fletcher (1579-

1625) did as well.17

Religion took a dramatic turn during times of the plague extensive measures to ensure the safety

and mortality of the people developed. Government requested that the church conduct weekly fasts, print

special prayer books for shut-in families, add plague-specific sermons to all parish services, close the

doors on the church during plague-time, and mandate clergy to visit shut-ins.18 Clergy began to flee

when the mandates did not decrease the spreading. Records indicate that clergy refused to visit the sick

or hold services for the dying. English government utilized their power in numerous ways to prevent the

spreading of the plague in the infected regions, whether it was religion or crowd control they tried new

ideas of prevention. Elizabeth ordered the closing of the ports, postponed Parliament, relocated the

entire court when threatened, restricted travel, and supported stricter building policies to prevent

crowding.19 Visitors were not welcomed during the larger outbreaks of the plague and monarchs made

use of their power to prevent them from entering. Elizabeth I, to protect herself from plague, she acted

15 Rebecca Totaro, The Plague in Print: Essential Elizabethan Sources, 1558-1603 (Pennsylvania: Duquesne University Press, 2010), 26. 16 Rebecca Totaro, Suffering In Paradise, Bubonic Plague in English Literature; from More to Milton, (Pennsylvania: Duquesne University Press, 2005), 34.17 Totaro, Suffering in Paradise, Bubonic Plague in English Literature; from More to Milton, 34. 18 Totaro, Suffering in Paradise, Bubonic Plague in English Literature; from More to Milton, 38. 19 Totaro, Suffering in Paradise, Bubonic Plague in English Literature; from More to Milton, 61-62.

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more often by decree than those before her, she established gallows in Windsor to hang anyone daring to

visit from London in 1564.20 She not only hung gallows, she also stopped imports from infected areas

and limited the freedoms of the people. Restrictions prevented people from entering England and

discouraged many seeking to witness the entertainment. Scholars believe that her aversion to the plague

was caused by the death of her tutor when she was fourteen and her recent illness with small pox in

1562. The plague brought about changes in the cleanliness of England, and the government started to

enforce laws to keep the streets clean. History notes that during this time, sanitation laws did not exist

and many citizens left debris, animal carcasses, and personal waste on the streets. The bubonic plague

was endemic and a great source for the high death rates in England. By the time plague became endemic

in England, an extensive and international history of literary, medical, and religious response had begun

to take form.21 The plague shaped England and changed music, history, literature, and art forever.

William Shakespeare was born in the April of 1564, during an outbreak of the plague; many believe that

witnessing the deaths of his family members influenced his plays.22 Shakespeare is remembered for his

plays during the Elizabethan Era and his career was not halted by the outbreaks and influenced his

writings.

In 1563, the Elizabethan government and the churches began to change their rituals to battle the

plague. In this era, the church was a major figurehead in the belief system of the citizens of England.

One way the churches gathered the citizens together was by instituting new policies in tradition. After

the reformation of the church, the growth of and competition of the medical market place, the church

stepped up its efforts to comfort and cure during plague time.23 In addition to the growing need for

medical and spiritual attention to cure the plague, the churches decided to make a new schedule. The

20 Totaro, Suffering in Paradise, Bubonic Plague in English Literature; from More to Milton, 65. 21 Totaro, Suffering In Paradise, Bubonic Plague in English Literature; from More to Milton, 36. 22 Totaro, Suffering in Paradise, Bubonic Plague in English Literature; from More to Milton, 80.23 Totaro, The Plague In Print: Essential Elizabethan Sources, 1558-1603, 17.

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schedule of prayer for times of plague included special services on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays

in addition to fasting every Wednesday – a practice justified at length in respect to its place in the newly

reconstituted Protestant Church of England.24 The Elizabethan government attempted to calm the

citizens with the scheduling of prayer; however, this did not relieve the fear of dying. During 1578,

Queen Elizabeth I gave plague orders to help her citizens. Elizabeth I adjourned parliament; her Privy

Councilors William Cecil and Ambrose Cave drafted a short set of regulatory orders for the cities of

London and Westminster and the duchy of Lancaster; and the Church of England issued a nation form of

prayer and fasting, A Form to be used in Common prayer.25 However, these orders did not help diffuse

the affects of the plague.

Elizabethans’ developed a theory about the “miasma” or the tainted air through putrefaction was

thought to be the primary cause of the plagues spread.26 Modern science has proven that the plague was

spread through rats that had been infected by fleas that carried the disease. Annual plague bills released

to the citizens to show how many people died from the plague. The plague is considered to be similar to

the terror tactic of surprise, staying hidden until the first victim had died, and then spread quickly

leveling one family after another.27

England had many “great” plagues, during Queen Elizabeth’s I reign, 1563-1564 witnessed the

death of twenty-five percent of the population, 1603 was deemed the the greatest plague there ever was

in Bristol, over 3,000 people had died.28 Mortality rates changed greatly during the times of the plague.

Those who had witnessed the plague viewed each one differently than others. The bubonic plague

brought fear to many, even the strongest people fled in fear of dying from the plague.

24 Totaro, The Plague In Print: Essential Elizabethan Sources, 1558-1603, 18.25 Totaro, The Plague in Print: Essential Elizabethan Sources, 1558-1603, 179. 26 Totaro, The Plague in Print: Essential Elizabethan Sources, 1558-1603, 179. 27 Totaro, Suffering in Paradise: The Bubonic Plague in English Literature; from More to Milton, 30. 28 Totaro, Suffering in Paradise: The Bubonic Plague in English Literature; from more to Milton, 33.

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During the years of 1563 and 1564, the Elizabethan Era witnessed the first outbreak of the

Bubonic Plague. However, despite the fear that the outbreak had brought musicians still published books

on music. Organ music was not a huge factor in the early Elizabethan Era and only played on certain

occasions. Scholars believe that organ music seemed to cease in the church shortly after her taking the

throne. Instrumental books were published more often for certain instruments and compositions were

also put into the books. Psalters became more popular for many years in the church and were brought

about by the reformation. Thomas Mulliner was one of the few musicians to publish his book on the

organ. The Mulliner Book was made for an organist and is symptomatic not only of the reverence in

which this instrument was held by English musicians, but also of the way in which keyboard music was

progressing in its own right.29 However, even with the publishing of this book on organ music the

playing of organ music began to cease in churches around 1563. Mulliner was not the only musician

making his way during the plague, church music began to take on a different form. In church music,

John Day had published Day’s Psalter of 1563. Imprinted by John Day “Medius of the whole psalms in

foure parts, whiche may be song to al musicall instruments, set forth for the increase of vertue: and the

abolishyng of other vayne and triflying ballades.”30 Day published a book for each voice part to sing

from that suited their range.31

In contrast to the Psalters, English Madrigals were still published in 1563. Richard Edwards

published Eglogs, Epytaphes, and Sonettes, that featured Barnaby Googe.32 English composers; similar

to Edwards were influenced by their Italian counterparts during this time. English Madrigals were

influenced by a collection of Italian Madrigals. In 1564, the collection of Italian Madrigals contained the

works of Willaert, Verdelot, di Lasso, Arcadelt, and others.33

29 Percy M. Young, A History of British Music (New York: W.W. Norton and Company Inc., 1967), 30 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 53. 31 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 53. 32 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 95-96.33 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 205.

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Resources state that theaters during the plague outbreaks were closed, however, the court of

Queen Elizabeth I still enjoyed the performances of plays. Plays’ or musical plays became more popular

and more developed and were performed often in the court before the queen. The plague did not prevent

Queen Elizabeth I from traveling to watch plays, in 1564 she went to Cambridge to see Plautus’

Aulularia, Haliwell’s Dido, Udall’s Ezechias, in King’s College Chapel.34 Richard Edwards, wrote the

tragedy Damon and Pithias. One source states that, Damon and Pithias was probably performed before

the queen by the Children of the Chapel Royal in the Christmas week of 1564.35 Plays were not able to

be viewed by the public, and on special occasions the court welcomed the plays to be presented before

the queen. During this time of the plague, music did not see very many changes or growths. Madrigals

became more popular and began to grow with the influence of the Italian Madrigals. Music was now

became more of an art in varying and trying new compositional styles.

The years 1592 and 1593, England had another outbreak of the plague. Elizabeth’s I court grew

immensely in visitation from other royals and their witnessing of the music played there details how

much music had changed during her reign. Composers moved to avoid the plague or suffered a death in

their family and stopped composing for years before returning. Music was being edited and republished

by new composers and differences could be seen. Music in plays became more formal and used,

however, plays were not allowed to the public during the closings. During 1592, the Frederick, Duke of

Wurtemburg, recounts what he experienced at Windsor. “‘the music’, he reported, ‘especially the organ,

was exquisitely played; for at times you could hear the sound of cornets, flutes, then fifes and other

instruments; and there was likewise a little boy who sang so sweetly amongst it all, and threw such

34 Sanders, Southern, Craik, and Lois Potter, The Revels: History of Drama in English: 1500-1576, Vol. 2, (New York: Methuen and Co. Ltd, 1980), xxxiv.35 Sanders, Southern, Craik, and Potter, The Revels: History of Drama in English: 1500-1576. Vol. 2, 250.

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charm over the music with his little tongue, that it was really wonderful to listen to him.’”36 Outbreaks of

the plague did not stop the playing of music or the enjoyment of music.

William Byrd, one of the famous Elizabethan composers did not publish or compose any musical

words during this time; there are works prior to the outbreak in 1592. In a book of Byrd’s compositions,

there is a list of the dates when the works were published. The last compositions were in 1591 before the

plague of 1592 and 1593, and publications began again in 1605.37 Great composers’ music publication

and composition was halted by larger outbreaks of the plague.

Thomas East a well-known Elizabethan typographer and publisher published the edited version

of The Whole Book of Psalms in 1592. In a letter to Sir John Puckering, East states, “in this book the

church tunes are carefully corrected and other short tunes added which are sung in London and other

places of this realm.”38 Sir John Puckering was a patron of Thomas East, and in the new version East

acknowledges his patron.

Thomas Morley published one of his madrigals in 1593. He was one of the best theorists, and the

most popular madrigalist of his time.39 Despite his ill health and consequent depression, his madrigals

are noted for their cheerfulness.40 Patronage grew widely with her ascension to the throne and many

composers dedication to their patrons grew as well Obligations for dedication in madrigals were still

given to the patrons. Samuel Daniel showed his obligations to the Sidney family in many of his

madrigals, one madrigal during this time in 1592 was his Delia, was dedicated to the Countess of

Pembroke, Sidney’s sister.41 England had a late start at composing madrigals during the times of plague;

many of the madrigals that are found in England are from Italian composers di Lasso and Willaert.

36 Young, A History of British Music, 122.37 Joseph Kerman, The Masses and Motets of William Byrd (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1981), 353-358.38 Oliver Strunk, Source Readings in Music History: The Renaissance (New York: W.W. Norton and Company Inc., 1965), 163.39 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 95. 40 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 95. 41 Bruce Pattison, Music and Poetry of the English Renaissance, (New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), 69.

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Queen Elizabeth I court was filled with many great composers, and when she traveled around

England as a guest she always was witness to fine entertainment. At Croydon also, in the palace of

Archbishop Whitgift, Nashe's Summer's Last Will and Testament was acted in 1592.42 The court was

used for the enjoyment of plays’ during the time of the plague and children were taught to perform under

any circumstance. Accession Day, which is a holiday for the Protestants, was a widely celebrated day in

England each year. However, in 1592, probably due to the dangers of one of the worst onsets of the

plague in some years, the traditional 17 November Accession Day festivities were canceled and a plan

was mooted to mount a substitute event.43 Accession Day was filled with different events involving

music during the entire festival and held great importance during this time.

Music in the theater grew during Elizabeth’s reign and new techniques were developed, similar

to musical interludes. In the platt of The Dead Man's Fortune, a Rose play of ca 1593, the act-divisions

are indicated by rows of crosses and marginal music-cues, showing that at this period musical

intermissions were not altogether unknown.44

Queen Elizabeth I reign ended in 1603 with her death and the last outbreak of the plague. Music

during the last visitation of the plague during her reign did little affect the music published and

composed during this time. Madrigals were starting to become a fond genre of music in England,

composers were working together to build masterpieces, lute music became more efficient and changed

with Dowland, and the visitors to her court witnessed a great scene of musical genius.

English Madrigals were published in a book called The Triumphes of Oriana it holds many

contrasting madrigals composed by numerous composers. One composer was Thomas Morely, who

42 Alwin Thaler, Players at Court: 1564-1642. The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Jan., 1920), pp. 19-46. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27700984. (accessed September 8, 2011)43 Smith, Music and Late Elizabethan Politics: The Identities of Oriana and Diana. Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Fall 2005), pp. 507-558. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jams.2005.58.3.507. (accessed September 27, 2011).44 W. J. Lawrence, Musical England. The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 17, No. 399 (May 1, 1876), pp. 455-456. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3355462. (accessed September 8, 2011).

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published multitudes of his own madrigals within this book. Belief is that Oriana was drawn from Queen

Elizabeth I. Triumphes of Oriana was a straightforward paean to Elizabeth I of England and to argue

that its publisher, Thomas Morley, and his mentor, William Byrd, were enmeshed, via their music, with

strategies surrounding the royal succession.45 In addition, Elizabeth’s image as the “Virgin Queen”

contrasts starkly with what most scholars of Renaissance literature tend to think about Oriana, whose

marriage and fecundity were highlighted features of her fictional biography.46

During this outbreak of the plague instructions for instrumental music in The Schoole of

Musicke, by Thomas Robinson was published in 1603. The Schoole of Musicke: wherein is taught, the

perfect method, of true fingering of the Lute, Pandora, Orpharion, and Viol de Gamba; with most

infallible rules, both easie and delightfull.47 This instruction book by Robinson showed musical

techniques and exercises as well as compositions for those who wanted to learn. In contrast composers

began to work together to compose new music. In 1603, two great composers Alfonso Ferrabosco and

William Byrd worked together to compose Medulla Musicke. Sucked out of the Sappe of Two of the most

famous Musitians that ever were in this land namely Master William Byrd…and Master Alfonso

Ferbosco…either of whom having made 40 severall waies (without connection), shewing most rare and

intricate skill in 2 partes in one upin the playne songe Miserere.48

John Dowland England’s most well-know lute composer and player in the court of Queen

Elizabeth I publishes his Third and Last Booke of Songs or Aires. This booke was newly composed to

sing to the/ Lute, Orpharion, or viols, and a dia-/ logue for a base and meane/Lute with fiue voices to/

45 Smith, Music and Late Elizabethan Politics: The Identities of Oriana and Diana. Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Fall 2005), pp. 507-558. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jams.2005.58.3.507. (accessed September 27, 2011).46 Smith, Music and Late Elizabethan Politics: The Identities of Oriana and Diana. Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Fall 2005), pp. 507-558. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jams.2005.58.3.507. (accessed September 27, 2011).47 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 155-156. 48 Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, 264.

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sing thereto.49 His third song in this book, ‘Behold a wonder here’ was suggested by the Earle of Essex

to be played for the entertainment of the Queene.50 A source states the reason the Earle of Essex may

have suggested that this song be played before the queen. In the device a blind Indian prince is presented

to the Queen, while his guide explains that he has come on advice of an oracle, in order that Elizabeth

may cure his blindness.51 ‘Behold a wonder here’ shows that even during the Renaissance era and the

Bubonic plagues, devices were used and interest in Eastern beliefs were used in Western music.

During this time, publication of plays and music increased in England. Discrete printed plays,

not including masques, court entertainments, civic pageants, or collection of plays, are no exception.52

Music in Shakespearean plays grew widely during the Elizabethan Era and even though the plagues

closed the theaters, Shakespeare still composed his works.

Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, during this time a large and active group of composers

(including Byrd, Gibbons, Dowland, Pilkington, Weelkes, and Este among many others) were destined

to continue with brilliant traditions.53 Even after her death, the composers that she had chosen still used

their skill to continue the style of Elizabethan music during the final plague of her reign. After her death

during the ascension of King James I from Scotland to England, for this event Ben Jonson presented a

post-Elizabethan version of the Oriana couplet, as follows: “Long liue ORIANA/To exceed (whom shee

succeeds) our late Diana.”54 Composers found it compelling to write music that showed loyalty and

49 Diana Poulton, John Dowland, (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1982), 274. 50 Poulton, John Dowland. 277. 51 Poulton, John Dowland, 277. 52 Paul J. Voss, Printing Conventions and the Early Modern Play. Medieval and Renaissance Drama In England. 15(January2002).http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=17&sid=61a6d08a-fcfc-4e36-91a0-1a7f375eedb0%40sessionmgr10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=8874061. (accessed Sept. 8, 2011).

53 Mason, Music in Elizabethan England, 1. 54 Smith, Music and Late Elizabethan Politics: The Identities of Oriana and Diana. Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Fall 2005), pp. 507-558. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jams.2005.58.3.507. (accessed September 27, 2011).

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respect to the queen. She was unlike other monarchs of England, she was a woman of strengths and

weaknesses, and greatly loved the arts.

Bubonic plagues spread throughout England for many years during the Elizabethan Era.

Composers were greatly influenced and their lives were changed from the death and fear surrounding

them. Music would not have been influenced if not for Queen Elizabeth I patronage and the ravaging of

the plague.

In addition to all progressions in music, children’s nursery rhymes consist of a tune about the

plague. ‘Ring around the roses’ or also known as ‘Ring a ring of roses’ talks about the plague. The

nursery rhyme normally ends on ‘we all fall down’ however, there is one word missing at the end of this

phrase, the word “dead.” Scholars argue that the plague did not influence the children’s rhyme and

others believe that this rhyme described the plagues symptoms. The nursery rhyme first emerged in 1665

and had many different versions to the text. Researching on this topic shows how a simple nursery

rhyme, many learned in school at a young age was never assumed to have a stronger meaning than a

funny little song.

The Elizabethan Era plagues influenced many composers of this time. The loss of loved ones, the

fear of death and the continuation of composing drew from new inspirations. The bubonic plague

affected the composers during this era and helped shaped the music taught today.

Blom, Eric. Music In England England: Pelican Books, 1947

Boyd, Morrison C. Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism. Philadelphia: University of

Pennsylvania Press, 1962.

Kerman, Jospeh. The Masses and Motets of William Byrd. Los Angeles: University of California

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Press, 1981.

Lawrence, W.J. Musical England. The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 17, No. 399

(May 1, 1876), pp. 455-456. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3355462. (accessed September 8, 2011).

Mason, Dorothy E. Music in Elizabethan England. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia,

1975.

Pattison, Bruce. Music and Poetry of the English Renaissance. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

Poulton, Diana. John Dowland. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1982.

Sanders, Southern, Craik, and Lois Potter, The Revels: History of Drama in English: 1500-1576, Vol. 2,

New York: Methuen and Co. Ltd, 1980

Smith, Music and Late Elizabethan Politics: The Identities of Oriana and Diana. Journal of the

American Musicological Society, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Fall 2005), pp. 507-558.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jams.2005.58.3.507. (accessed September 27, 2011).

Strunk, Oliver. Source Readings in Music History: The Renaissance New York: W.W. Norton and

Company Inc., 1965

Thaler, Alwin. “The Players at Court, 1564-1642.” The Journal of English and Germanic

Philology 19, no.1 (January 1920). http://www.jstor.org/stable/27700984?origin=JSTOR-pdf.

(Sept. 8, 2011).

Totaro, Rebecca. The Plague in Print: Essential Elizabethan Sources, 1558-1603. Pittsburg:

Duquesne University Press, 2010.

Totaro, Rebecca. Suffereing in Paradise: The Bubonic Plague in English Literature from More to

Milton. Pittsburg: Duquesne University Press, 2005.

Voss, P. “Printing Conventions and the Early Modern Play.” Medieval and Renaissance Drama

In England. 15(January2002).http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=17&

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sid=61a6d08a-fcfc-4e36-91a0-1a7f375eedb0%40sessionmgr10&bdata=JnNpdGU9Z

Whvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=8874061. (accessed Sept. 8, 2011).

Young, Percy M. A History of British Music. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1967.