Dr Samuel Teague

I am focusing on Henry Cooke (d.1672), Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal from the Restoration in 1660. Whilst his pupils would surpass him in both ability and fame, Cooke was responsible for the tuition of a new cadre of musicians—including Pelham Humfrey, John Blow, and Henry Purcell—who would go on to revolutionise English music from the latter half of the seventeenth, to the beginning of the eighteenth century. My thesis aims to fill out the significant gaps in Cooke’s biography and to present his surviving compositions in new editions. Most importantly, I look to evaluate his compositional and pedagogical impact on English music, to shift the purview of the English Restoration School away from Purcell-centric views, and back to its roots with Cooke and his contemporaries. In the course of my research, I organised a one-day event to mark the 350th anniversary of Cooke's death, featuring a successful conference and a sold-out concert. This doctoral research project is supervised by Professor Owen Rees.

I work part-time in the library at Christ Church, where I work managing the modern collections. Additionally, I currently look after the music special collections, answering enquiries & bookings, as well as a large deal of work on the Byrd 400 project. I also teach on music in Reformation Europe through the FHS module 'Polyphony and Polemic in a Fractured Europe, c.1500-1650' and supervising a prelims extended essay.