Fancy No.19 (Mico)
Movements
Notes
Mico was appointed resident musician at Thorndon Hall, Essex, in 1608. There, he worked for Sir William Petre (William Byrd’s former patron) as a music teacher for the family’s children, as well as composing for the household. Surviving documents record the handing over of the household instruments to Mico in 1608, including five viols (with bows), a lute, organ and virginals. In 1630 he was appointed as organist to Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, and held this post until the queen’s flight to Holland in 1642. None of Mico’s consort works were published during his lifetime, but Christopher Simpson, writing six years after his death, named him as one of the best composers of fantasias.
