William Brade’s 6-part pieces are even better than his 5-part ones, with their attractive interplay between the two upper voices. Rich, satisfying stuff. You can get the complete set here ↣.
Brade was born in 1560, presumably in England, for he is referred to in printed collections as William Brade Englander. He was a famous violin player, who had among his pupils Nicholas Bleyer and the virtuoso Johann Schop. Brades first professional appointment was probably at the court of Johann Georg, Markgraf of Brandenburg, who ruled from 1571 to 1590, but in 1594 he began the first of several short spells at Copenhagen in the service of Christian IV; during the second of these he came into contact with John Dowland, who was also working for the Danish king. A surviving letter from Graf Ernst of Schamburg suggests that Brade may have been a rather difficult, or at least a restless character, and this may explain why he never stayed very long in any one place: he had at least three short periods in Hamburg (where he died in 1630), three in Brandenburg, and one each in three other northern German towns, Bückeburg, Schaumburg and Gottorp.
Whatever his personal difficulties, Brade was clearly a respected composer of instrumental music. Apart from the pieces in the 1614 print, he had three other complete collections of his own material published.
