LAWES, Henry (1595-1662), a prominent member of the school of early English musicians, which culminated in Purcell, and was nipped in the bud by his early death, was born at Dinton in Wiltshire in December 1595, and received his musical education from John Cooper, better known under his Italian pseudonym Giovanni Coperario, a famous composer of the day. In 1626 he was received as one of the gentlemen of the chapel royal, which place he held till the Commonwealth put a stop to church music. But even during that songless time Lawes continued his work as a composer, and the famous collection of his vocal pieces, Ayres and Dialogues for One, Two, and Three Voyces, was published in 1653, being followed by two other books under the same title in 1655 and 1658 respectively. When in 1660 the king returned, Lawes once more entered the royal chapel, and composed an anthem for the coronation of Charles II. His death took place October 11, 1662. Lawes’s name has become known beyond musical circles by his friendship with Milton, whose Cornus he supplied with incidental music for the performance of the masque in 1634. The poet in return immortalized his friend in the famous sonnet beginning :—

Harry, whose tuneful and well-measured song First taught our English music how to span Words with just note and accent, not to scan With Midas’ cars, committing short and long....