Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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(d.1681). Composer, musical theorist, and viol player. No copy of his ‘Plaine Rules and Directions for Composing Musick in Parts’, alluded to by Wood, is know to survive. A proposed theoretical treatise, “Syntagma Musicum”, never materialized.
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The following was posted by Dan on 14 Jan 2005:
Composing:
“In the 1660s John Birchensha claimed to have developed a system of ‘easy, certain, and perfect Rules’ by means of which ‘not only those, who skilfully can sing or play on some Instrument, may learn to compose but also those, who can neither sing nor play’. His pupils included Silas Taylor, Thomas Salmon, and (memorably) Samuel Pepys. But his treatise Syntagma musicae – in which he promised to include ‘directions how to compose artificially and skilfully in a few weeks’ – was never published, despite encouragement from the Royal Society.”
http://www.music.qub.ac.uk/tomita/11baroque/abstracts/Field.htm
Link is an abstract of a paper presented at Manchester last July. -
Birchensha
This unusual name is presumably the same (in origin) as the more common Birkenshaw; I assume it has southern -ch- instead of northern -k- (cf church/kirk). I found a Russian page of composers’ births and deaths that lists the alternate spellings Birchensha, Berchenshaw, Berkenshaw, Birkenshaw, but I don’t know if they were all used for John B. or if they’re just alternate versions of the family name in general:
http://www.practica.ru/365/14-05.htm -
Birchensha - etymology
birchen-
from Old English birce = birch (tree)-shaw
from Old English sceaga (Celtic origin?) = thicket
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See also http://www.theowljournal.com/reader/?page=5&edition=7
[Link updated, 20 Oct 2008. P.G.]
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Birchensha published in the diary period:
Alsted, Johann Heinrich, 1588-1638.
Templum musicum: or The musical synopsis, of the learned and famous Johannes - Henricus - Alstedius, being a compendium of the rudiments both of the mathematical and practical part of musick: of which subject not any book is extant in our English tongue. Faithfully translated out of Latin by John Birchensha. philomath. Imprimatur, Feb. 5. 1663. Roger L’Estrange.
[Varient Title: Musical synopsis, of the learned and famous Johannes - Henricus - Alstedius]
London : printed by Will. Godbid for Peter Dring at the Sun in the Poultrey next dore to the Rose-Tavern, 1664.
[16], 93 [i.e. 94], [2] p. : ill. (metal cut), music ; 8⁰.Frontispiece engraved and signed: Iohn Chantry sculp.; p. 94 misnumbered 93. The last leaf is blank.
Wing (2nd ed.), A2926. A translation of part 6 of: Elementale mathematicum.
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Birchensha surviving manuscript treatises: a description of a forthcoming (2009) publication:
Field, Christopher; Wardhaugh, Benjamin ‘John Birchensha: Writings on Music,’ Ashgate 2009
http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&title_id=9840&edition_id=10555New link for Benjamin Wardhaugh’s article discussing Birchensha’s appearance before the Royal Society in August 1664:
Mr. Birchensha’s Ear (Full text - Trinity 2005 issue of The Owl.)
http://www.benjaminwardhaugh.co.uk/texts/birchenshatext.html -
The Burchinshaw/Birchensha family moved from Lancashire/Cheshire to North Wales after the victory by Edward I at the end of the 13th century to secure the township of Denbigh for the Crown. Like the Middleton, Salisbury and Clough families, they assimilated the Welsh culture but established a second base in London when the Tudors came to the throne.
The earliest record I can find of our family surname is ‘de Birchyneshagh’ in 1235. The spelling with a ‘k’ instead of ‘ch’ originates from the Wakefield area of Yorkshire. -
The Burchinshaw/Birchensha family moved from Lancashire/Cheshire to North Wales after the victory by Edward I at the end of the 13th century to secure the township of Denbigh for the Crown. Like the Middleton, Salisbury and Clough families, they assimilated the Welsh culture but established a second base in London when the Tudors came to the throne.
The earliest record I can find of our family surname is ‘de Birchyneshagh’ in 1235. The spelling with a ‘k’ instead of ‘ch’ originates from the Wakefield area of Yorkshire.