CAMPION, THOMAS ( b. London, England, Feb 1567; d. London Feb 1620 )
Both a poet and a composer, Campion collaborated with Philip Rosseter on a book of ayres (airs), published in 1600. His verses are charming, elegant and show a remarkable ear for rhythms.
He was interested in the theory of music and published a manual on song writing, as well as four subsequent books of his own ayres.
Like Rosseter, he served for a period at the court of King James I, supplying music and lyrics for the fashionable masques. He also wrote a series of elegies on the death of the Prince of Wales.
In 1605, though he continued to work as a creative artist, he received a degree in medicine from the University of Caen.
