John Dunstable
d.1453. English composer. Details of his life are meager. He seems to have gone to the Continent with the duke of Bedford during the Hundred Years' War, and to have spent much of his career there. He was known also as a mathematician and astronomer. Several European authorities of his century testify to his great influence and reputation. About sixty of his works survive, mostly sections of the Mass and motets, and are found chiefly in Italian manuscripts. It was through him that the English richness of triadic harmony was communicated to the early masters of the Renaissance, such as Dufay.*