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John Playford
 
 
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John Playford was born in Norwich
Norwich

Norwich , is a city status in the United Kingdom in Norfolk, East Anglia which is in Eastern England. It is the regional administrative centre and county city of Norfolk....
 in 1623 and died in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 in 1686. He served an apprenticeship with a publisher (John Benson) from 1639/40 to 1647, after which he opened a shop in the porch of Temple Church. A bookseller and publisher, Playford is best known for his publication of The English Dancing Master
The Dancing Master

The Dancing Master is a dancing manual containing the music and instructions for English Country Dances. It was published in several editions by John Playford and his successors from 1651 until c1728....
 in 1651 (later editions were known as 'The Dancing Master'). The work contains both the music and instructions for English country dance
English Country Dance

English Country Dance is a form of folk dance. It is a social dance form, which has earliest documented instances in the late 16th century. Queen Elizabeth I of England is noted to have been entertained by "Country Dancing," although the relationship of the dances she saw to the surviving dances of the mid-17th century is disputed....
s.






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John Playford was born in Norwich
Norwich

Norwich , is a city status in the United Kingdom in Norfolk, East Anglia which is in Eastern England. It is the regional administrative centre and county city of Norfolk....
 in 1623 and died in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 in 1686. He served an apprenticeship with a publisher (John Benson) from 1639/40 to 1647, after which he opened a shop in the porch of Temple Church. A bookseller and publisher, Playford is best known for his publication of The English Dancing Master
The Dancing Master

The Dancing Master is a dancing manual containing the music and instructions for English Country Dances. It was published in several editions by John Playford and his successors from 1651 until c1728....
 in 1651 (later editions were known as 'The Dancing Master'). The work contains both the music and instructions for English country dance
English Country Dance

English Country Dance is a form of folk dance. It is a social dance form, which has earliest documented instances in the late 16th century. Queen Elizabeth I of England is noted to have been entertained by "Country Dancing," although the relationship of the dances she saw to the surviving dances of the mid-17th century is disputed....
s. This came about after Playford was working as a (Civil) war correspondent and was captured by Cromwell's men and told that, if he valued his freedom (as a sympathiser with the King) he might consider a change of career. Although many of the tunes in the book are attributed to him today, he probably did not write any of them. Most were popular melodies that had existed for years. John Playford published several other collections of music, including:

  • Apollo's Banquet (1678) - tunes and jigs for the violin
  • The Musical Companion (1667) - songs and catches
  • Musick's Handmaid (1678) - songs for the virginal and harpsichord
    Harpsichord

    A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when each Key is pressed....
  • The Division Violin (1685) - a set of 26 tunes which start simply and build complex variations ("divisions") on the original melody. While many of the pieces were accessible to amateurs, several featured advanced techniques (for the time) like scordatura
    Scordatura

    A scordatura , also called cross-tuning, is an alternative tuning used for the open strings of a string instrument. In the Western classical music tradition it is an extended technique to allow the playing of otherwise impossible note sequences or note combinations....
    , fingered double stops, and large interval leaps across the strings.


  • A Musicall Banquet (1651)
  • Catch that Catch Can (1652)
  • A Booke of New Lessons for Cithern (1652, revised 1666 as Musick's Delight on the Cithren)
  • Musick's Recreation on the Lyra Viol (1652)
  • A Breefe Introduction to the Skill of Musick (1654)
  • Choice Musick to the Psalmes of David (1656)


Playford retired in 1684 and was succeeded in his publishing business by his son, Henry Playford
Henry Playford

Henry Playford was the younger son of John Playford and his only known surviving child. He was a music publisher and was in business with his father....
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See also

  • English Country Dance
    English Country Dance

    English Country Dance is a form of folk dance. It is a social dance form, which has earliest documented instances in the late 16th century. Queen Elizabeth I of England is noted to have been entertained by "Country Dancing," although the relationship of the dances she saw to the surviving dances of the mid-17th century is disputed....
  • The Dancing Master
    The Dancing Master

    The Dancing Master is a dancing manual containing the music and instructions for English Country Dances. It was published in several editions by John Playford and his successors from 1651 until c1728....