The Lupo Legacy: Agents for Change

Abstract

The story of the Lupo family musicians is an amazing story of survival and accomplishment. Having escaped the Spanish Inquisition of 1492, their family settled in northern Italy, which by late fifteenth century had become an important center for musical innovation. There, the three Lupo brothers emerged as professional string players around the time the violin was invented in the same region. After a few years in Venice they emigrated to England in 1540 to play at the court of Henry VIII. For the next 102 years Lupo family musicians performed at the royal court in a country where it was illegal for Jew to live. The Lupo musicians were integrally involved in the development of instrumental music as the renaissance style gave way to the exciting new baroque style. Concurrently, important social changes were taking place in England as well, raising the question: "What role did the Lupo family play in the musical and social changes during this time?"