Henry Lawes

Henry Lawes (1596-1662) was regarded in his lifetime as the most famous English song composer, with over 400 titles to his credit, though now he is much less familiar to audiences than his brother, William Lawes. He was the composer of music for Milton's Comus, and many other poets were honored to have their verses set by him. Much of Lawes' early life is open to conjecture, though his connections as a composer and performer at the courts of Charles I and Charles II are well-documented, and he survived as a music teacher during the intervening years of the Commonwealth.