Lawes, Henry

Lawes, Henry (lôz), 1596–1662, English composer. Both he and his brother William were prominent musician-composers, and Henry served the royal family in various capacities until the civil war. As music tutor in the family of the Earl of Bridgewater, he became acquainted with the great poets of the time. He wrote the music for Milton's masque Comus (1634) and for Carew's Coelum Britannicum (1633).

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Lawes, Henry

(baptized Jan. 5, 1596, Dinton, Wiltshire, Eng.—died Oct. 21, 1662, London) English composer. Lawes, who served at the court of Charles I, became the leading English songwriter of his time; some 435 of his songs survive. His theatrical music includes that to John Milton's masque Comus (1634). William Lawes, his brother, was also a noted composer.