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Tier 3 · vertical & regional
William Brade
Person · male · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland · England · born 1560 · died 1630 · recording since 1990
English composer (1560–1630)
streamingdatabasedatabasedatabase
Listen on SpotifyYouTube Music
Also known as Wilhelm Brade · ウィリアム・ブレイド
Timeline
5 events▣ Album 2◦ Birth 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1
1560s
1630s
1990s
· Debut release
Debut release: Hamburger Ratsmusik um 1600
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
2010s
Biography
English biography544 words · 3 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1369332602
Biography
William Brade (1560 – 26 February 1630) was an English composer, violinist, and viol player of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, mainly active in northern Germany. He was the first Englishman to write a canzona, an Italian form, and probably the first to write a piece for solo violin.
Biography
Little is known about his early life. Around 1590 he left England to pursue a musical career in Germany, as did several other prominent English musicians, sensing better job opportunities abroad. He switched employments often between the various courts in north Germany and Denmark. Between his arrival in Germany, sometime around 1590, and 1594 he worked for the Brandenburg court; between 1594 and 1596 he worked for Christian IV of Denmark in Copenhagen; then until 1599 he was back in Brandenburg. He returned that year to Copenhagen, where he stayed until 1606. From 1606 to 1608 he worked at Bückeburg in Brunswick-Lüneburg. From 1608 to 1610 he was employed in Hamburg, but he returned to Bückeburg in 1610. Evidently by 1612 he was again planning on switching jobs, for a letter surviving from that year, written by the count at Bückeburg, tells the Hamburg court pithily that he was a "wanton, mischievous fellow" and should not be allowed to have his way.
However, in spite of the warning by his former employer, by 1613 he was working in Hamburg. Two years later—he liked to swap jobs every two years—he returned to Copenhagen, but in 1618 he moved on to Halle where he obtained the position of kapellmeister to the Prince of Magdeburg, Christian Wilhelm of Brandenburg (1598–1631). By 1619 he was in Berlin, and the next year he returned to Copenhagen yet again. Two years later he moved to Gottorp in Schleswig-Holstein, where he served as director of the Hofkapelle until 1625.
His last years were spent in Hamburg, one of the few refuges available within Germany from the ravages of the Thirty Years' War. There is no evidence that he ever returned to England.
Compositions
All of Brade's surviving music is for string instruments, and most is for dancing. The earlier music, for example, in his collection published in 1609 in Hamburg, is based on English models, and similar to the contemporary work of composers such as Peter Philips and John Dowland. Later he began to work with Italian models, writing the first known canzona by an Englishman; in addition he began to arrange his dances into suites, a practice which would become common during the Baroque era. Some of the dances he wrote were in forms previously unknown in Germany such as the branle, maschera, and volta.
His coral, a set of variations on a ground bass, is considered to be the earliest music written for the solo violin by an English composer; however, its attribution is not completely certain, for another source dated 1684 gives the name of another composer.
Stylistically, his music is more homophonic than much of the music by his English contemporaries, who still preferred a polyphonic idiom.
As a performer, he was famous for his fine technique; he was one of the most famous early violinists, and highly regarded in Germany. Several pieces by other composers were published in Hamburg as tributes to him after his death.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 13 | 67.6th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 2 | 75.7th |
| Studio albums | 2 | 78.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 5 | 78.8th |
| Recording span (years) | -360 | 1th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (2 release groups · 2 studio albums)
Albums · 2
1990 · studio album
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Tracklist · 40 tracks · 1:40:09
Disc 11Newe ausserlesene Paduanen, Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1609: I. Intrada (V)3:242Newe ausserlesene Paduanen, Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1609: II. Allmand (XVIII)2:133Newe ausserlesene Paduanen, Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1609: III. Courant (XVIII)1:074Newe ausserlesene Paduanen, Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1609: IV. Allmand (II)1:485Newe ausserlesene Paduanen, Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1609: V. Canzon 1a pars.-Galliard (XIV)4:086Newe ausserlesene Paduanen, Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1609: VI. Canzon 1a pars.-Galliard (XV)2:537Newe ausserlesene Paduanen, Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1609: VII. Paduana (X-1)4:098Newe ausserlesene Paduanen, Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1609: VIII. Galliard (X-2)1:569Newe ausserlesene Paduanen, Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1609: IX. Canzon 1a pars. (XVI-1)1:5910Newe ausserlesene Paduanen, Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1609: X. Canzon 2a pars. (XVI-2)2:0511Newe ausserlesene Paduanen und Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1614: I. Paduana (VIII)5:0612Newe ausserlesene Paduanen und Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1614: II. Galliard (IX)1:1613Newe ausserlesene Paduanen und Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1614: III. Galliard (XXI)1:5114Newe ausserlesene Paduanen und Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1614: IV. Paduana (I)3:3315Newe ausserlesene Paduanen und Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1614: V. Galliard (II)0:5416Newe ausserlesene Paduanen und Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1614: VI. Paduana (XXIV)4:2417Newe ausserlesene Paduanen und Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1614: VII. Galliard (XXVII)1:1918Newe ausserlesene Paduanen und Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1614: VIII. Galliard (XXV)1:4419Newe ausserlesene Paduanen und Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1614: IX. Paduana (XII)3:2220Newe ausserlesene Paduanen und Galliarden etc., Hamburg 1614: X. Galliard (XIII)1:22Disc 21Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: I. Der Koeniginnen Intrada (VII)3:342Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: II. Intrada der jungen Princessinen (IX)2:573Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: III. Comoedianten Tanz (XXXVII)2:254Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: IV. Des Rothschenken Tanz (XXVIII)2:525Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: V. Der heilig Berg (XV)1:476Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: VI. Der Pilligrienen Tanz (XLIII)4:107Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: VII. Robert Batemans Volta (XIV)1:038Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: VIII. Macharada (XXXII)2:079Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: IX. Couranta (XXXVI)2:0210Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: X. Der Satyrn Tanz (XVIII)4:0011Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: XI. Turkische Intrada (XX)3:0712Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: XII. Mohrfields (LI)2:5313Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: XIII. Brand (II)0:5814Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: XIV. Ein Schottisch Tanz (XVI)3:1215Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: XV. Die Wolriechende Violen (XLVII)1:5316Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: XVI. Courante der Jungfrauen (XI)2:1717Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: XVII. Näglein Blumen (XLIV)2:3318Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: XVIII. Mascharad der Edel Frauen (X)2:1119Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: XIX. Courant W.B.E. (XLI)1:3520Newe ausserlesene liebliche Branden, Intraden etc., Lübeck 1617: XX. Der Hexen Tanz (XLIX)2:002013 · studio album
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Tracklist · 19 tracks · 1:11:59
1Paduana and Galliard a 6 in G major (1)4:402Paduana, Galliard and Coranta a 5 in A minor6:383Ballett a 5 in D minor1:164Coral6:215Paduana and Galliard a 6 in G major (2)5:506Allmand and Coranta a 5 in D minor1:277Paduana and Galliard a 6 in G minor (3)6:078Allmand a 5 in G major1:409Paduana and Allmandi a 6 in G major (4)6:0510Newer Paduanen, Galliarden, Intraden, Canzonen, Ricercaren, a 5, op. 22: Intrada in D minor a 51:3711Neuwer Pavanen, Galliarden, Couranten unnd Volten, a 5, op. 30: Courante and Volta in D minor a 53:0312Taffel-Consort: Canzon in G major a 43:4413Ballet and Volta a 5 in D major2:0814Neuwer Pavanen, Galliarden, Couranten und Volten, a 5, op. 30: Pavan and Galliard in D minor a 55:2915Canzon a 5 in C major3:4316Ballett a 5 in D major, "La mia Salome"2:0317Neuwer Pavanen, Galliarden, Couranten unnd Volten, a 5, op. 30: Pavane (Sachevil's dolorosi) and Galliard in A minor a 57:1018Almande a 4 in C major1:4119Mascarada a 5 in G major1:17
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put William Brade head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 13 | 67.6th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 2 | 75.7th |
| Studio albums | 2 | 78.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 5 | 78.8th |
| Recording span (years) | -360 | 1th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/52451ea4-93c0-4ce8-ba5a-3b8a31054b8fdiscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/52451ea4-93c0-4ce8-ba5a-3b8a31054b8fcore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1706870seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bradebiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brade
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q1706870 · MusicBrainz: 52451ea4-93c0-4ce8-ba5a-3b8a31054b8f
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