Editing John Jenkins (composer)

{{Short description|English composer}}
{{other people|John Jenkins}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}

'''John Jenkins''' (1592–1678), was an English composer who was born in [[Maidstone]], Kent and who died at [[Kimberley, Norfolk|Kimberley]], Norfolk.

==Biography==
Little is known of his early life. The son of Henry Jenkins, a carpenter who occasionally made musical instruments, he may have been the "Jack Jenkins" employed in the household of [[Anne Russell, Countess of Warwick]] in 1603. The first positive historical record of Jenkins is amongst the musicians who performed the [[masque]] ''The Triumph of Peace'' in 1634 at the court of King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]. Jenkins was considered a virtuoso on the [[lyra viol]].  Charles commented that Jenkins did "wonders on an inconsiderable instrument."<ref>The Consort Music of William Lawes, 1602–1645, John Patrick Cunningham, page 184</ref>

When the [[English Civil War]] broke out in 1642 it forced Jenkins, like many others, to migrate to the rural countryside. During the 1640s he was employed as music-master to two [[Cavalier|Royalist]] families, the Derham family at [[West Dereham]] and [[Hamon le Strange]] of [[Hunstanton]].  He was also a friend of the composer [[William Lawes]] (1602–1645), who was shot and died in battle at the siege of [[Chester]].

Around 1640 Jenkins revived the ''[[In Nomine]]'', an archaic form for a consort of viols, based upon a traditional [[plainsong]] theme.  He wrote a notable piece of [[programme music]] consisting of a [[pavane]] and [[galliard]] depicting the clash of opposing sides, the mourning for the dead and the celebration of victory after the siege of [[Newark-on-Trent|Newark]] (1646).

In the 1650s Jenkins became resident music-master of [[Dudley North, 4th Baron North|Lord Dudley North]] in Cambridgeshire, whose son Roger wrote his biography. It was in these years, during the Commonwealth under [[Oliver Cromwell]], in the absence of much competition or organised music-making, that Jenkins took the occasion to write more than 70 suites for amateur household players.

After the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] he obtained a place as a musician to the Royal Court. Although the viol consort was less fashionable in the court of king [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], [[Roger North (17th century)|Roger North]] wrote:

:''Tho' he for many years was incapable to attend, the Court musicians had so much value for him, that advantage was not taken, but he received his salary as they were paid''.

Something of Jenkins's own temperament is indicated by his setting the religious poetry of [[George Herbert]] to music.   Like [[Joseph Haydn]], he was a pious, reticent, and private person.  Workmanlike and industrious in composition, he wrote dances ''by the cart-load'' according to North, who also stated –

:''he was certainly a happy person,....of an easy temper, superior in his profession, well accepted by all, knew no want, saw himself outrun by the world, and having lived a good Christian, died in peace''.

Jenkins is buried in the nave of St. Peter's Church, Kimberley, [[Norfolk]], with this inscription:
 	
::''Under this Stone Rare Jenkins lie''
::''The Master of the Musick Art''
::''Whom from the Earth the God on High''
::''Called up to Him to bear his part.''
::''Aged eighty six October twenty seven''
::''In anno seventy eight he went to Heaven.''

==Musical style==
{{listen|type=music
 | filename     = John_Jenkins_(1592-1678)_-_Pavan_à6_in_F,_VdGS_No.2_(ca.1667).ogg
 | title        = Pavan à6 in F, VdGS No.2, Oxford. Bodleian Library, Mus.Sch. c.83, II/2 (ca.1667)
 | description  = Performed by Phillip W. Serna, Treble, Tenor & Bass [[Viol]]s 
}}

Jenkins was a long-active and prolific composer whose many years of life, spanning the time from [[William Byrd]] to [[Henry Purcell]], witnessed great changes in English music.  He is noted for developing the [[viol consort]] [[fantasia (music)|fantasia]], being influenced in the 1630s by an earlier generation of English composers including [[Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger]], [[Thomas Lupo]], [[John Coprario]] and [[Orlando Gibbons]].  Jenkins composed numerous 4, 5, and 6 part [[fantasia (music)|fantasia]]s for [[viol consort]], [[alman]]s, [[Courante|courant]]s and [[pavane]]s, and he breathed new life into the antiquated form of the ''In Nomine''.  He was less experimental than his friend [[William Lawes]]; indeed, Jenkins's music was more conservative than that of many of his contemporaries.  It is characterised by a sensuous lyricism, highly skilled craftsmanship, and an original usage of tonality and counterpoint.

The musicologist [[Wilfrid Mellers]] claimed that [[J. S. Bach]]'s Orchestral Suites No. 3 and No. 4 in D major (BWV 1068–69) recalled the sensibility of the physician-philosopher Sir [[Thomas Browne]]; however, the melancholic pavans, meditative fantasias and vigorous allemands of Jenkins are closer in era, antique style and temperament, to his Norfolk contemporary than Bach. Jenkins may even have socially met or performed in the presence of Browne while employed in his retirement years by Sir [[Sir Philip Wodehouse, 3rd Baronet|Philip Wodehouse]] of Kimberley as correspondence between Browne and Wodehouse survives.<ref>Geoffrey Keynes (ed.), The Works of Sir Thomas Browne (London: Faber & Faber, 1964), 4 vols.</ref>
==Table of works==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Title<br>(key is nominal) !! Year written<br>(mostly circa) !! Scoring<br>(unless needed for title)  !! Cat. ref. !! Remarks 
|-
| ''In nomine'' 1 (in e) || 1630 || for 6 Viols (Trebles, Tenors, Basses) and Organ || MB39/13 || -
|-
| ''In nomine'' 2 (in g) || 1630 || for 6 Viols (Trebles, Tenors, Basses) and Organ || MB39/14 || -
|-
| Air for 4-Part Viol Consort || 1650 || - || ChChMus 367-70/35 || VdGS 1
|-
| Pavan for 4-Part Viol Consort || 1650 || - || ChChMus 367-70/34 || VdGS 45
|-
| Pavan and Galliard “Newarke Seidge” || 1646 || for 4 Viols || MB26 || -
|-
| Pavan 1 “Bell” (in a) || 1630 || for 6 Viols (Trebles, Tenors, Basses) and Organ || MB39/15 || -
|-
| Pavan 2 (in F) || 1630 || for 6 Viols (Trebles, Tenors, Basses) and Organ || MB39/16 || -
|-
| Fantasy 07 (in c) for 4 Viols || 1650 || - || MB26 || -
|-
| Fantasy 09 (in c) for 4 Viols || 1650 || - || MB26 || -
|-
| Fantasy 12 (in D) for 4 Viols || 1650 || - || MB26 || -
|-
| Fantasy 15 (in C) for 4 Viols || 1650 || - || MB26 || -
|-
| Fantasy 16 (in d) for 4 Viols || 1650 || - || MB26 || -
|}

==References==
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Jenkins, John (1592-1678)}}
*[[Percy Scholes|Scholes, Percy]] (1995). ''Oxford Companion to Music'' (10th edn.). OUP.
{{Reflist}}

==Discography==
*''Consort Music''
:Ars Nova, dir. [[Peter Holman]], Meridian E 77020 (1978)
*''Consort Music''
:The Consort of Music, dir. Trevor Jones, Decca (1983)
*''Consort Music for Viols in Six Parts''
:[[Hespèrion XX]], Astrée E 8724 (1991)
*''All in a Garden Green: Pavan, Newarke Seidge, 4-Part Ayres, Fantasia-Suite''
:[[Rose Consort of Viols]], Naxos 8.550687 (1993)
*''Six Airs: Almain, Pavane, Courante, Courante, Almain, Almain''
:Double Reed Ensemble of New York Kammermusicker, Dorian DOR-90189 (1995)
*''The Mirrour and Wonder of his Age: John Jenkins Consort Music''
:[[Fretwork (music group)|Fretwork]], Virgin 7243 5 45230 2 1 (1996)
*''Fantasias''
:Les Voix Humaines, Atma ACD2 2205 (2001)
*''Fantazia''
:Ensemble Jérôme Hantaï, Naive-Astrée E 8895 (2004)
*''Five-Part Consorts''   
:Phantasm, Avie (2007)
*''Six-Part Consorts''
:Phantasm, Avie (2008)
*''Music for the Viol Lyra-Way''
:[[Jonathan Dunford]], Lyra-Viol (2014)
*''Four-Part Consort Music''
:Fretwork, Signum SIGCD 528 (year unknown)

==External links==
*[http://vdgsa.org/pgs/music_3.html Fantasias in four, five, and six parts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110406113936/http://vdgsa.org/pgs/music_3.html |date=6 April 2011 }} from the Viola da Gamba Society of America (VdGSA).
*{{ChoralWiki|John Jenkins|John Jenkins}}
*{{IMSLP|Jenkins, John|John Jenkins}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=John |title=Men of Kent and Kentishmen |date=1892 |publisher=Cross & Jackman |location=Canterbury |pages=80–81 |edition=Subscription  |chapter=[[s:Men of Kent and Kentishmen/John Jenkins|John Jenkins]]}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, John}}
[[Category:1592 births]]
[[Category:1678 deaths]]
[[Category:English Baroque composers]]
[[Category:English Renaissance composers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Maidstone]]
[[Category:English viol players]]
[[Category:English lutenists]]
[[Category:17th-century English classical composers]]
[[Category:English male classical composers]]
[[Category:People from Kimberley, Norfolk]]
[[Category:17th-century English male musicians]]