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<jats:p>‘Such is your divine Disposation that both you excellently understand, and royally entertaine the Exercise of Musicke.‘ So wrote John Dowland of Robert Cecil, first earl of Salisbury, in the dedicatory epistle of <jats:italic>Andreas Ornithoparcus his Micrologus</jats:italic>, published in 1609. Beneath the hyperbole natural to a dedication lie the essential characteristics of Cecil's musical patronage. The first part of this paper examines his royal entertainment of music in terms of the form and scale of his patronage and the ways in which music could be used within the patron-client relationship. The second part explores Cecil's excellent understanding of music and comments on his personal taste.</jats:p>