LOCKE, Matthew
b Devon, c1621-2
d London, August 1677, aged c fifty-six

His musical training was as a chorister and secondary at Exeter Cathedral, where he met both Charles I and the future Charles II. In 1648 he served Prince Charles in the Netherlands, becoming converted to Catholicism there, and receiving great favour from the future Charles II when he returned to England in

1651. He probably married in the mid-1650s, when he lived in Herefordshire. From 1656 to 1663 he wrote much incidental music for plays. He was a friend of Purcell, on whom he had a strong influence, and is mentioned several times by Pepys. He was given many posts at court, and when the court moved to Oxford in 1665 to 1666 Locke went with them. He wrote many pamphlets, often vitriolic in nature. He left a great amount of music for the stage, some instrumental works, sacred works in both English and Latin, and secular songs.