John Ward was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 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...

 who was a contemporary of John Dowland

John Dowland

John Dowland was an English Renaissance composer, singer, and lutenist. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep" , "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and has...

.

Born in Canterbury

Canterbury

Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

, John Ward was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral. He went to London where he served Sir Henry Fanshawe

Henry Fanshawe

-Early life:Henry Fanshawe, baptised 15 August 1569, was the elder son of Thomas Fanshawe by his first wife, Mary, daughter of Antony Bourchier and was thus a half-brother of Thomas Fanshawe. In November 1586 he became a student of the Inner Temple...

 both as an attorney in the Exchequer

Exchequer

The Exchequer is a government department of the United Kingdom responsible for the management and collection of taxation and other government revenues. The historical Exchequer developed judicial roles...

 and as a musician. Ward married and had three children. He moved to Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

 by 1636 and died there at Ilford Magna in 1638.

Ward composed madrigal

Madrigal (music)

A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....

s, works for 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...

 consort, services, and anthem

Anthem

The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music , or more generally, a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem".-Etymology:The word is derived from the Greek via Old English , a word...

s. His madrigals are remarkable for their fine texts, broad melodic lines and originality.

Works, editions and recordings

First Set of English Madrigals of three, four, five, and six parts, apt both for Viols and Voices ; with a mourning song, in memory of Prince Henry. Newly composed by John Ward. 1613 Edition: ed Fellowes, EM 19 1922, 1968 (rev).
Recordings

• 1982 complete Consort of Musicke, Anthony Rooley, (Decca 2LPs, reissued 1CD Australian Eloquence 2010).
• 1988 selection; with three unpublished madrigals not previously recorded (Hyperion)

External links