Thomas Mace
Illustration — Portrait of Thomas Mace Thomas Mace (1612 or 1613 – c. 1706) was an English lutenist, viol player, singer, composer and musical theorist of the Baroque era. His book Musick's Monument (1676) provides a valuable description of 17th century musical practice.
Thomas Mace
William Faithorne · This image is available from the National Library of Wales You can view this image in its original context on the NLW Catalogue · Public domain
- Born
- 1613 · Cambridge.
- Nationality
- Kingdom of Great Britain
- Occupation
- musician · singer · composer · musicologist · viol player · music theorist · lutenist · musicographer
- Movements
- Baroque music
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Portrait of Thomas Mace Thomas Mace (1612 or 1613 – c. 1706) was an English lutenist, viol player, singer, composer and musical theorist of the Baroque era. His book Musick's Monument (1676) provides a valuable description of 17th century musical practice.
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wikidata · Q2425975 · wikipedia · Thomas Mace
In this article
Biography
Biography
• Illustration — Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, interior Born in 1612 or 1613, he played the lute from c. 1621, but his teacher if any is unknown. He also played the viol. He was a singer, termed a lay clerk, in the choir of Trinity College, Cambridge from 1635 until his death. During the 1644 Siege of York, in the English Civil War, he was present in that city, where he had family. He died c. 1706.
Works
Works
In 1676 he published Musick's Monument, for about 300 subscribers. The title page described it as: Its large section on the lute contained a comprehensive lute tutorial and guide to the instrument, and there was a similar, smaller section on the viol. The book also contained some metaphysical speculation regarding the significance of musical ratios such as the octave. John Hawkins in A General History Of The Science and Practice Of Music (1776) commented:
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2425975: Thomas Mace
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Thomas Mace”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- Mace, Thomas (1612/13–1706?), musician and writer on music, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2004
Citations
References
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scholarly publication
Mace, Thomas (1612/13–1706?), musician and writer on music, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004Crossref registry
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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