Thomas Campion

English poet and composer

• Born: February 12, 1567
• Birthplace: London, England
• Died: March 1, 1620
• Place of death: London, England

A talented poet and musician, Campion became an important figure in the development of the English song in the early seventeenth century. As one of the most successful English composers of the court masque, Campion continued the development of a style of English music initiated by John Dowland.

Early Life

Thomas Campion (CAMP-ee-uhn) was born in London on February 12, 1567, to John and Lucy Campion. John Campion was a successful law clerk who had been appointed to the Chancery Court in 1565. Although John Campion died when Thomas was only nine years old, his professional interests seem to have had an early influence on his son, who ten years later entered Gray’s Inn, one of the leading law schools in London. Lucy Campion, Thomas’s mother, died only a few years after her husband, in 1580, and Thomas was subsequently sent to Cambridge University in 1581. He left Cambridge in 1584 without a degree, although the reason for his leaving the university is unknown.

When Campion entered Gray’s Inn in 1586, he made several important acquaintances among his fellows, many of whom were aspiring poets and writers. Campion’s study of law (if, indeed, he studied it at all) was unremarkable, but while at the school, he participated in and organized several entertainments. It was during his tenure at Gray’s Inn, for example, that Campion coauthored his first masque, The Masque of Proteus and the Adamantine Rock (1594), with Francis Davison. The work was performed before Queen Elizabeth. In 1592, Campion traveled to Rouen, France, as part of an expedition against Spanish invaders commanded by the earl of Essex. Campion returned to England shortly thereafter, and, still living on the inheritance following the death of his mother, he devoted himself to a literary career in earnest.

Life’s Work

Before Campion had traveled to France as part of Essex’s expedition, he had written only a few poems, many of which were composed as exercises in Latin poetry. In 1591, five of Campion’s poems were published in a volume devoted to Philip Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella (pirated ed. 1591, authorized ed. 1598), an important collection of sonnets that had already been circulating among London’s literary circles. Four years later, Campion published his own volume of poetry, the Poemata (1595), which contained several types of Latin poems, many of which were dedicated to the leading English poets of the day (George Chapman, Philip Sidney, and Edmund Spenser).

While Campion was relatively productive as a poet (mostly in Latin genres) through the end of the sixteenth century, he became increasingly adept as both a poet and a musical composer after 1600. It was around this time that Campion became close friends with Philip Rosseter, one of England’s leading lutenists. Campion’s public contribution to the tradition of English poetry and music had its start in 1601, when several of his songs appeared in A Booke of Ayres (1601). The book was published as a collaborative effort with Rosseter, and it contained approximately an equal number of songs by each.

English music had undergone a major development throughout the 1590’s, as the lyric song had begun to replace the madrigal as the dominant musical form, in large part because of the contributions made by John Dowland . The English madrigal was typically a polyphonic composition, with relatively complex harmonies and often including word-painting (a musical device in which words in the text are musically depicted or “illustrated”). Songs, or airs, on the other hand, were lighter in texture and placed more significance on the verbal text; they tended to be more homophonic using only a single musical note in correspondence with each single word or syllable. Campion’s music very much followed the tradition that had been inaugurated by Dowland, and Campion eventually became one of the most prolific publishers of songs in seventeenth century England. His most well-known collections include Two Bookes of Ayres (1613) and The Third and Fourth Booke of Ayres (1617).

Campion traveled again to the Continent in 1602 to study medicine, and in 1605, he received a medical degree from the University of Caen. Campion’s motives for taking up medicine are not clear, although it has been speculated that his inheritance had run out by this time and that he was attempting to find a regular source of income. When he returned to England, in addition to practicing medicine, Campion composed several masques that were performed before the court, including Lord Hay’s Masque (1607), The Lord’s Masque (1613), The Caversham Entertainment (1613), and The Somerset Masque (1613).

In addition to his poetry and music, Campion wrote two significant theoretical works during his lifetime. His Observations in the Art of English Poesie (1602) criticized the popular English habit of rhyming in poetry, and it argued for a return to classical methods of versification. The book inspired vehement criticism by another well-known poet, Samuel Daniel, who published A Defense of Rhyme (1603) largely as a rebuttal to Campion’s treatise. Campion also wrote A New Way of Making Fowre Parts in Counter-point (c. 1617), a musical treatise that established methods for composing harmonic sequences with the standard four-part structure. The treatise was considered innovative among English theories of composition, and it introduced into England ideas about music that Campion had learned from Continental theorists (most notably Sethus Calvisius of Leipzig).

Significance

Even among the finest examples of Renaissance poetry, Campion’s poems are exceptional for their lyricism and lightness. His musical compositions, although perhaps not as highly celebrated as his poems, are themselves excellent examples of the English lyric song in the early seventeenth century, and Campion’s lute songs (along with John Dowland’s) are frequently regarded as the finest examples of the genre. In this respect, Campion was a leading figure in the development of the English song, which at the turn of the century had begun to replace the madrigal as the principal musical form among English composers.

From a historical or critical standpoint, Campion is a fruitful case study for the relationship between poetry and musical thought in Renaissance England, since he not only composed both poetry and music but also wrote two significant treatises dealing directly with versification and musical counterpoint. Although his call for a return to Latin versification was not heeded (even by himself), his interest in continental theories of poetry made him an important conduit for the transfer of ideas about poetry and music to England in the seventeenth century. Campion died in London on March 1, 1620. He never married or had children; at his death, he bequeathed all his possessions to his longtime friend Philip Rosseter.

Campion’s Major Works

1595

• Poemata

1601

• A Booke of Ayres (with Philip Rosseter)

1602

• Observations in the Art of English Poesie

1607

• Lord Hay’s Masque

1613

• The Lord’s Masque

1613

• The Caversham Entertainment

1613

• The Somerset Masque

1613

• Two Bookes of Ayres

1613

• Songs of Mourning

c. 1617

• A New Way of Making Fowre Parts in Counter-point

1617

• The Third and Fourth Booke of Ayres

1618

• The Ayres That Were Sung and Played at Brougham Castle

1619

• Thomae Campiani Epigrammatum Libri II

Bibliography

Bevington, David, and Peter Holbrook, eds. The Politics of the Stuart Court Masque. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Includes several articles on the court masque and its political functions in Renaissance England. Campion is mentioned throughout, and Bevington’s essay on Shakespeare’s The Tempest in this volume considers at length Campion’s influence on Renaissance drama. Illustrations, musical examples, bibliography.

Campion, Thomas. The Works of Thomas Campion. Edited by Walter R. Davis. New York: Doubleday, 1967. The best single-volume collection of Campion’s works, with selections from the early poems, the four books of Ayres, Latin poems, songs (some reproduced with the original music), and the two treatises. Includes a brief introduction, biographical outline, illustrations, and bibliography.

Davis, Walter R. Thomas Campion. Boston: Twayne, 1987. A concisely written study of Campion’s life work, including an introductory biographical chapter. Subsequent chapters focus separately on Campion’s songs, poems, musical compositions, treatises, and masques, and the final chapter treats Campion’s reputation and influence from his lifetime to the present. Includes a short chronology and selected bibliography.

Lindley, David. Thomas Campion. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1986. A well-written study of Campion’s poetry and musical compositions, as well as their interrelationship. The first two chapters cover Campion’s poetry and music, respectively, while the third chapter considers how the poetry and music inform each other. The final chapter is devoted to Campion’s contribution to the masque. Several musical examples, short bibliography.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗, ed. Court Masques: Jacobean and Caroline Entertainments, 1605-1640. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1995. Includes a number of Campion’s masques, as well as a general introduction that discusses the form and function of court entertainments in seventeenth century England. Illustrations, bibliography.

Wilson, Christopher. Words and Notes Coupled Lovingly Together: Thomas Campion, a Critical Study. New York: Garland, 1989. An analysis of Campion’s poetic, musical, and theoretical works with respect to their historical context. As with most single-volume studies of Campion, this book includes individual chapters on the poetry, music, theory, and masques. Includes an overview of previous commentary on Campion. Illustrations, musical examples, bibliography.