John & Johnson

John Johnson was one of the most important English composers and performers of lute music from the Renaissance era. His music mixed Italianate and English elements to yield an individual style, especially inventive in the realm of variation. Many regard him as the founder of the English school of lute music, even though John Dowland would surpass him. Johnson was also the father of composer and lutenist Robert Johnson. There are few details known about John Johnson's early years. He must have developed a talent on the lute in his early childhood: a 16th century document de...