ABSTRACT
As an English Catholic who left his native land to pursue a musical career on the continent at the age of about 20, Peter Philips provides an excellent case study of someone involved in multifarious religious, political, social and musical circles which interact to form a complex set of interconnected networks. As with most musicians of this period, what is known about him is far from complete: isolated pieces of information provide biographical details which offer tantalizing snapshots of the composer's life. Philips composed the keyboard version in 1580 when still lodging with Sebastian Westcote, who among other duties was responsible for choirboy plays performed by the St Paul's choristers. Philips's Passamezzo Pavan and Galliard may be regarded as a bridge between William Byrd and the Dutch master. Musical connections between composers can often serve as reliable evidence of personal association, as can be seen when corroborated by other evidence.
