Pelham Humfrey

Pelham Humfrey (born 1647 or 1648—died July 14, 1674, Windsor, Berkshire, Eng.) was an English composer and lutenist, especially admired for his anthems and sacred solo songs.

Humfrey was a chorister in the Chapel Royal under Capt. Henry Cooke and at age 17 was sent to France and Italy to study. While abroad he was appointed royal lutenist and gentleman of the Chapel. He returned to England in 1667 and later succeeded Cooke as master of the children, one of his pupils being Henry Purcell. He also was composer for the king’s violins. He produced many fine works, particularly anthems. In his solo songs with continuo, he shows great care in reflecting the feeling and accentuation of the texts in the music and was one of the English masters of the monodic style. He also wrote incidental music for plays by William Wycherly and John Dryden and for Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Many of his songs appear in the collections published by John Playford.