LAWES, HENRY (1596-1662), English musician, was born at Dinton in Wiltshire in Dec. 1595, and received his musical edu cation from John Cooper, better known under his Italian pseu donym Giovanni Coperario (d. 1627), a famous composer of the day. In x626 he was received as one of the gentlemen of the chapel royal, a place he held until the Commonwealth put a stop to church music. Lawes wrote the music for Thomas Carew's masque boelum Britannicum, produced at court on Feb. 18, 1634, and for the more famous production of Milton's Comus at Lud low Castle the music to George Sandys version (1637) of the Psalms; and in 1648 the Choice Psalmes put into music, composed by Henry and William Lawes. This latter contained elegies on William, Henry's half-brother, killed at Chester in 1645, and among the commendatory verses printed with it is Milton's sonnet : "Harry, whose tuneful and well-measured song." The famous collection of his vocal pieces, Ayres and Dialogues for One, Two and Three V oyces, was published in 1653, and was followed by two other books under the same title in 1655 and 1658 respectively. In 1656 he was one of those who provided the music for Davenant's first entertainment at Rutland House. When in 166o the king returned, Lawes once more entered the royal chapel, and composed the anthem Zadok the Priest, for the coronation. He died on Oct. 21, 1662, and was buried in West
minster Abbey. In the famous sonnet already referred to Milton exactly indicates the great merit of Lawes.
His brother, WILLIAM LAWES, (d. 1645), was also a pupil of Coperario. He was in the choir of Chichester cathedral until 16o2, and afterwards became a gentleman of the Chapel Royal. The music to Shirley's masque The Triumph of Peace (performed in 1634) he composed with Simon Ives. The music to D'Avenant's masque The Triui;tph of the Prince d'Amour (performed in 1635 in the Middle Temple) was also of his composition. He lost his life fighting for the Royalist cause in the Civil War, Sept. None of his music was published until after his death, the first to appear being his brother Henry's edition of "Choice Psalmes" (1648). Many of his songs, among which the best known is Gather ye Rosebuds while ye May, are contained in books pub lished by Playford : Court Airs (1656), Courtly Masquing Ayres (1662), etc. His most important works are short pieces for viols, lutes, etc., but his Royal Consort, containing a collection of 66 of these, exists only in manuscript.