William Brade

1560-1630

That William Brade was an English composer is (almost) beyond dispute. He has after all, an English-sounding name.

However the first bit of certainty in his biography is not his place of birth or even his year of birth. It is that at around the age of 30 he left England to find employment in Germany.

A violin and viola player he plied his trade around the courts of Europe to whoever would pay for his services. A lifestyle taken up by a number of English musicians of the day (Thomas Simpson was another).

Spain (just after the defeat of the Armada) was not a likely place for an Englishman to find work so Brade seems to have sought his fortune in Germany and Denmark. Certainly by 1594 he was employed in Copenhagen at the court of Christian IV of Denmark.

Christian IV was Brade’s patron

Brade seems to have habitually found new employment every two years. Stints followed in Brandenburg, Holstein-Schaumburg, Gottorp, Copenhagen (again), Halle, Güstrow.

Some of his employers were less than impressed with his lack of commitment. Count Ernst III if Holstein-Schaumburg described Brade as "wanton, mischievous fellow".

Nevertheless it seems his reputation as a talented player and his reputation throughout Germany overcame any misgivings employers may have had for his butterfly tendencies.

However the disruption caused by the 30 years war (1618-1648) meant steady employment in safe areas was harder to find. Perhaps because of this as much as anything, after 1625 he remained in Hamburg until his death.

His compositions were in some sense ground breaking. The first Englishman to compose an Italian canzona and he may have been the first English composer of a piece for solo violin.