Born in Maidstone, 1592
Died in Kimberley, Norfolk, Oct 27, 1678
- Jenkins was a lutenist, a player of the lyra viol, and a composer of consort music.
- Jenkins worked for many wealthy English patrons as a performer and a teacher and was also connected with the royal court after the Restoration.1
- Fun Fact: the lyra viol is a small bass viol sometimes known as the viola bastarda
“He was a person of much easier temper than any of his faculty, he was neither conceited nor morose, but much a gentleman, and had a very good sort of wit, which served him in his address and conversation, wherein he did not please less than his compositions.”
Roger North, on Jenkins. English writer, biographer, and amateur musician Roger North was of Jenkins’ music students. (The Autobiography of the Hon. Roger North, 79.)
Sources
- Andrew Ashbee, “Jenkins, John (English composer),” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed October 30, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000014255.