ABSTRACT

Nicholas Lanier's re-appointment as Master of the Musick is first noted on 28 August 1660. Certainly Lanier seems to have experienced some difficulty in imposing his authority upon the musicians, necessitating in March 1661 another directive from the Lord Chamberlain in which the position of the Master of the Musick was clearly established. Pepys's assessment of Lanier is strangely laconic—so much so, indeed, that there is a temptation to ask whether perhaps he is referring to another member of the family. Pepys's attitude towards Lanier can doubtless be explained by the generation gap and his genuine ignorance of Lanier's past achievements. There is, however, a much stronger reason for concluding that Pepys's new friend was indeed Lanier. There is no further mention of Lanier in the Diary, and it is most unlikely that he and Pepys ever met again, for he died at East Greenwich towards the end of February 1665/6.