BASSANO, Hieronymus

Born in London, March 11, 1559
Buried at Waltham Abbey, Essex, Aug 22, 1635

• Hieronymus Bassano [ee-eh-RO-nee-moos bah-SAH-no] was a member of a Jewish family¹ of musicians and instrument makers who took their name from their hometown of Bassano del Grappa, Italy. The family was active in Venice and later, England.
• Hieronymus (aka Jeronimo or Jerome) Bassano, like many of his relatives, was employed as a wind and viol player at the Tudor & Stuart courts from 1579 onward, first under Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), later under James I and Charles I.²

“The most ancientist musition the King hath.”

Court records in 1630 described Bassano thusly, so it looks like he enjoyed a nice long career.³

1. David Pinto, liner notes to Birds on Fire: Jewish Musicians at the Tudor Court, Fretwork, Harmonia Mundi 907478, CD, 2008.
2. David Lasocki, Denis Arnold, and Fabio Ferraccioli, “Bassano family,” Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2001), accessed July 18, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000053233.
3. Ibid.