John Browne (composer)

John Browne
Bornc. 1453
Diedc. 1500
OccupationComposer
Known forChoral works in the Eton Choirbook
Notable workStabat Mater, O Maria salvatoris mater
StyleTudor choral music

John Browne (1453–c. 1500) was an English composer of the Tudor period, who has been called "the greatest English composer of the period between Dunstaple and Taverner". Despite the high level of skill displayed in Browne's compositions, few of his works survive; Browne's extant music is found in the Eton Choirbook, in which he is the best-represented contributor, and the Fayrfax Manuscript. His choral music is distinguished by innovative scoring, false relations, and unusually long melodic lines, and has been called by early music scholar Peter Phillips "subtle, almost mystical" and "extreme in ways which apparently have no parallel, either in England or abroad."