Thomas Ford (composer)

Thomas Ford (c. 1580 – buried 17 November 1648) was an English composer, lutenist, viol player and poet.

Ford was attached to the court of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of James I, who died in 1612.

[1] Ford wrote anthems, for three to six voices; four sacred canons; 35 partsongs; six fantasias for five parts; and a few other pieces for viols.

An unusual feature of his music for viol is the "occasional use of a sound effect: a heavy pizzicato "thump...with the first and second finger of the "Tleft hand according to the direction of the pricks."

Some of his sacred music, found in two collections from 1614 and 1620, is unusual in including a basso continuo, a plainly Baroque feature which, though common on the continent by then, only made a belated appearance in England.