ABSTRACT
There are many surviving records from the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods that demonstrate the role and importance of music within different social circles. From the organists and singing men in private chapels mentioned by Whythorne,1 to the musicians and composers in residence in charge of the education of specific households, the varieties and forms of music materials and practices during this period were diverse and plentiful to say the least. Generating a comprehensive picture of these musical activities is, however, challenged by the inconsistencies and gaps in record keeping in musical households. Inventories of musical instruments, music books, payrolls for music services and other records can prove to be scarce or even non-existent for some of these households, even if they were known through other sources to have been musically very active. A case in point is the household of Edward Paston, whose collection comprises more than one thousand pieces but yields practically no evidence of the musical instruments, domestic musicians or performances that took place within its walls. This lacuna is especially glaring since the musical texts clearly suggest that consort music was performed on transposing instruments, several sizes of lutes and various combinations of voices.
