William Daman facts for kids

William Daman (sometimes spelled William Damon) was a talented musician who lived in England during the late 1500s. He was part of the royal household of Elizabeth I, the Queen of England at that time. Daman is famous for some of his musical works, especially for being one of the first composers to set the Psalms (songs from the Bible) to music that could be sung by several voices at once.

Life of William Daman

Miserere by William Daman, a piece of music from his time.

William Daman probably arrived in England around the year 1566. He came with Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, after Sackville returned from a trip to Rome. In November of that same year, Daman got married to Anne Derifield in London. They had several children together.

From 1576 until he passed away, Daman worked for Queen Elizabeth I. He was one of six musicians in a special group called a recorder consort. This group played dance music for the Queen and her court. William Daman died in 1591 and was buried on March 26th of that year.

Daman's Musical Works

William Daman was likely the first composer to create music for the Psalms in English, designed for different voices to sing together. This type of music is called "part-music."

His first collection of Psalms was published in 1579. It was printed by a man named John Day. A friend of Daman's, named John Bull, helped get these songs published. He secretly gathered Daman's compositions and quickly arranged for them to be printed. This first edition is very rare today, meaning not many copies exist.

In 1591, a new version of Daman's Psalms was published. This time, it was printed by Thomas East. William Swayne helped publish this version. He explained that the first publication didn't quite show how skilled Daman was. So, Daman worked on a new version to correct any misunderstandings. This new edition came in two forms: one where the main tune was sung by the tenor voice, and another where it was sung by the treble (higher) voice. Both versions were printed in separate books for each singing part.

The words for both the 1579 and 1591 editions of Daman's Psalms came from a popular version of the Psalms by Sternhold and Hopkins.

Besides his famous Psalm settings, Daman also composed other music. These include three pieces for instruments. One of these, a fantasia for six parts, was probably played by his recorder consort for the Queen. A piece called Miserere by Daman is also kept safe in the British Museum.