Walter Porter facts for kids

Walter Porter (born around 1587, died 1659) was an English composer and musician who worked for the church. He went to Italy to learn from a famous composer named Monteverdi. Because of this, his music, like his madrigals (a type of song) and his only surviving anthem (a church song), sounds a bit Italian.

Walter Porter's Life Story

Walter Porter's father, Henry Porter, was also a musician. He played the sackbut, which is an old type of trombone, for King James I.

On January 5, 1616, Walter became a "Gentleman of the Chapel Royal". This meant he was a singer in the King's own choir. He had to wait for a spot to open up for a tenor singer. On February 1, 1617, he officially took over from another singer named Peter Wright.

In 1639, Walter Porter got an important job: he became the master of the choristers at Westminster Abbey. This meant he was in charge of training the choir boys there. At that time, Richard Portman was the organist.

Walter Porter had important people who supported his music, called "patrons." One of them was John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol. Porter even dedicated some of his music, called Ayres, to him. During the First English Civil War, he lost his job. However, a kind person named Sir Edward Spencer helped him out.

Walter Porter was buried at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, on November 30, 1659.

Walter Porter's Musical Works

Walter Porter created several musical works that were printed and shared. Here are some of his important collections:

• Madrigales and Ayres (1632): This book contained 26 pieces for two, three, four, or five voices. It also included music for instruments like the harpsichord, lutes, theorbos (a large lute), bass-viol, and violins. It was printed by William Stansby.
• Ayres and Madrigals (1639): This collection also featured songs and madrigals. It included a special bass part for instruments like the organ or theorbo-lute, written in the Italian style.
• Mottets of two voices (1657): These were church songs for two voices (a high voice and a low voice). They could be played with an organ, harpsichord, lute, or bass-viol. The famous music historian Charles Burney noted that some of the words for these songs came from a book by George Sandys.
• Divine Hymns (1664): This collection of hymns was advertised by John Playford. It might be the same as another work called Psalms of Sir George Sands, which was a translation for two voices by Walter Porter, advertised in 1671.

Words from some of the anthems that Porter set to music can be found in old manuscripts called the Harleian MSS..