Biography
Though indentured to the Earl of Salisbury until 1607, Lanier nonetheless received payments from the Cecil family and Hatfield House for certain services rendered prior to that year. He joined the King's Musick as a lutenist in 1616, having already appeared at court in Campion's masque honoring the Earl of Somerset. For that occasion he both wrote and performed the declamatory ayre "Bring away this sacred tree," one of the earliest examples of the form in England. Between 1620 and 1660 Lanier, Wilson, Lawes, and Coleman cultivated the style, aligning musical rhythm with the natural stresses and inflections of spoken delivery. In the ayre itself, Lanier's chordal accompaniment anticipated the continuo texture, while the vocal line remained largely monotonic yet distinctly tonal and declamatory. Following a trip to Italy, during which he was commissioned to acquire paintings for the court, he produced the extended recitative "Hero and Leander." The Italian journey left a clear mark: the work closely mirrors Italian recitative practice and introduces expressive nuances absent from his earlier output. Apart from the pieces already cited, Lanier was chiefly recognized for masque scores whose texts came from Ben Jonson, Robert Johnson, and Alfonso Ferrabosco. Appointed Master of Music to Prince Charles in 1618, he later became Master of the King's Musick in 1625, the first musician to hold that title.