John Johnson can reasonably be regarded as the founder of the school of English lute music of the ‘Golden Age’ that was to culminate in the work of John Dowland (1563–1626). Recognised as Queen Elizabeth’s favourite lutenist, Johnson died in 1594, when the Golden Age school of lutenists was at its zenith. His lute playing must have been exceptional, but his historical importance resides in the quality and quantity of music by him that has come down to us today. He absorbed both the prevailing Italianate style and a more idiosyncratically English taste to produce a substantial body of work of real distinction which continues to delight over four centuries after his death.