William Browne

William Charles Denis Browne, primarily known as Billy to family and as Denis to his friends, was a British composer, pianist, organist and music critic of the early 20th century. He and his close friend, poet Rupert Brooke, were commissioned into the Royal Naval Division together shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. Denis Browne was killed in action during the Gallipoli Campaign.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on William Denis Browne.

From the period sources

William Browne is noted as a famous musician who flourished before the Reformation, though his name does not appear in Morley’s Catalogue, according to A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, Vol. 1 (1875). This same work suggests a more particular account of him as an “old English poet” would appear elsewhere, but here he is “spoken of as a musician only,” having “manifested his skill in many very excellent compositions.” Later, A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, Vol. 2 (1875) lists William Browne among the authors contributing to England’s Helicon, or the Muses Harmony, a collection of songs printed in 1614. This collection is celebrated for its “pastoral simplicity,” a style introduced by Sir Philip Sidney, and contains “many very fine compositions, most of which are set to music by the ablest masters of the time, and chiefly in the form of madrigals.” While many authors in this collection were “obscure writers” compared to English classics, their merits entitle them to regard for those studying English literature.