Life
Daniel Bacheler was an English lutenist and composer baptized on 16 March 1572 in the Buckinghamshire village of Aston Clinton and buried on 29 January 1619. He trained under his uncle, the court lutenist and dancing master Thomas Cardell, and went on to serve Sir Francis Walsingham and Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, before becoming a groom of the privy chamber to Queen Anne of Denmark, consort of James I. At court he composed around fifty lute pieces, including pavans, galliards, almains, and fantasies, among them virtuosic variations on the tune “Monsieurs Almaine.” Daniel Bacheler is now considered probably the most commercially successful English lutenist-composer of his own lifetime.
Impact
Daniel Bacheler’s music is distinguished by an unusually florid and technically demanding ornamental style, featuring rapid arpeggios, trills, and tremolo variations that pushed the expressive and virtuosic limits of the Renaissance lute. Though his difficulty led to relative neglect after his death, his surviving pieces are now recognized as among the most sophisticated and rewarding works of the English golden age of lute music, standing alongside those of Dowland and Holborne.
Repertoire
Monsieurs Almaine, c. 1600
Bacheler’s virtuosic set of variations on the popular tune “Monsieurs Almaine,” noted for its dazzling concluding tremolos.
Monsieurs Almaine – Daniel Bacheler — Performed by William Yelverton
Monsieurs Almaine by Daniel Batchelar, performed by Edson Lopes — Performed by Edson Lopes
To Plead My Faith, c. 1600
A galliard based on Bacheler’s own song setting of a poem by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex.
Daniel BACHELER | To Plead my Faith | Thomas Langlois — Performed by Thomas Langlois