JOHN DUNSTABLE.— Astronomer composer, born perhaps at Dunstable in Bedfordshire around 1370 and died at Walbrooke on 24 Dec. 1453. He was buried in the church of St Stephen in London. Little is known of his life: it is known that he was in the service of the Duke John of Bedford and it is supposed that he followed him to Paris when the duke went there as representative of Henry V and regent of France.
The hypothesis of a stay in Italy is credible, supported by the fact that he lived almost always abroad and by the presence of most of his works in Italian manuscripts (Bologna, Modena, Trento), while only one English manuscript, the Old Hall ms., gives us one of his compositions, Veni Sancte Spiritus for 4 voices; this Italian sojourn, according to Van Den Borren, could be placed between 1425 and 1440, a period in which Dufay was a singer in the Papal Chapel. Speaking of him, the contemporary Martin Franc says that Dufay and Binchois were his followers. He fused in a marvellous synthesis melody and harmony, giving, especially to the former, a rare plastic expressiveness, whose immediate source is in the Italian Ars nova of the 14th century.
Of his 54 compositions known so far, those printed are a minimal part. The Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich contain his works in volumes VII, XXVII, XXXI and L (Leipzig 1913 ff.). The complete list of