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Nicholas Bugsworthy
A "previously unknown Tudor composer," until author Reginald Owen Morris needed some invented examples and a chance to add a bit of fun in his otherwise dry work, Contrapuntal Technique in the Sixteenth Century, Oxford University Press 1922.
The samples of his work given at the end of the book, Conceits and Vapours are also funny, one is actually a contrapuntal version of Irving Berlin's 1911 hit song "Everybody's Doing It." The samples are also numbered no. 10,001, and no. 10,002, which would mean Bugsworthy cranked out more music than the notably prolific J.S. Bach.
Morris did not fool all the experts, some who pointed out Bugsworthy in reviews. Further, British classical music magazine The Dominant wrote up a whole article on Bugsworthy for their April Fool's edition of 1928. The article, by real musicologist Sir Richard Terry, posited his birth circa 1540.
The Tudor Period is from 1485 to 1603.
External Links
- https://blog.oup.com/2023/04/nicholas-bugsworthy-an-unknown-tudor-composer/
- https://archive.org/stream/contrapuntaltech22morr#page/12
- https://archive.org/stream/contrapuntaltech22morr#page/n43
- https://books.google.com/books?id=EAU9AQAAIAAJ&q=nicholas+bugsworthy
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/917133?seq=2
