Ian Spink, a leading authority on 17th-century English music, has carried out a remarkable new investigation of the musical sources of the Restoration period, and of the archives of every cathedral and choral foundation. For the first time, perhaps, the true character and shape of this period of musical history is revealed, taking in the work of the great men of the age, including Purcell, Locke, and Handel, and many lesser masters such as Humfrey, Blow, Clarke, Weldon, and Croft.

Henry Lawes (1596-1662) has long been acknowledged as the most important and prolific English songwriter between the death of John Dowland in 1626 and the birth of Henry Purcell in 1659. He is celebrated as Milton's collaborator in Comus (1634). Although he wrote some church music, Lawes' significance as a composer lies in his settings of many of the lyrics by Cavalier poets such as Carew, Herrick, Suckling, and Waller - who, like Lawes himself, belonged to the brilliant court of Charles I. This book combines an account of his life with a study of his development as a songwriter during this period. Following the execution of the King in 1649, Lawes played an important part in establishing concerts in London during the 1650s, and was one of the composers of the first English opera, Davenant's "The Siege of Rhodes" (1656). At the Restoration he set "Zadok the Priest" for the coronation of Charles II, but died the following year.