Give a listen to Sunday’s Early Music Show on BBC3:
Lucie Skeaping visits Eton College in Berkshire to look at the Eton Choirbook, the most outstanding choirbook to have survived the Reformation. She is joined by Jeremy Summerly and they discuss the importance of this vast book and play music by the most important composers represented in the collection.
The Eton Choirbook (Eton College MS. 178) (also known as the Eton Manuscript) is a richly illuminated 15th century manuscript collection of English sacred music. It was one of very few music collections to survive the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, and originally contained music by 24 different composers; however, many of the pieces are damaged or incomplete. It is one of only three manuscript sources in all of England for music in Latin from the late 15th century (the others are the Lambeth Choirbook and the Caius Choirbook).
Breaks your heart.
The Choirbook was compiled between approximately 1490 and 1502, presumably for use at Eton College, and was probably bound in the late 16th century. 126 pages remain of the original 224, including the index. In the original, there were a total of 93 separate compositions; however only 64 remain either complete or in part. Some of the 24 composers are known only because of their inclusion in the Eton Choirbook. John Browne has the most compositions (10) of all the composers included in the book, followed by Richard Davy (9) and Walter Lambe (8).
Many recordings of the music in the Eton Choirbook.
As usual, the program is worth a listen, not just for the music, but also because of the discussion, in which the music is placed in context respectfully, accurately and always engagingly, without a shred of pomo cant, decontextualization or deep and abiding concerns about gender.
I’ve been listening quite a bit to two CD’s from the English choral group Ex Cathedra.
New World Symphonies and Moon, Sun & All Things are amazing, fascinating collections of Baroque music from Latin America:
Following the discovery of the Americas, Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church was established with incredible speed. Many of the Native Indians were part of highly sophisticated civilizations, most notably the Aztecs and the Incas, and were very responsive to the new ideas, especially music, which was already an important social and spiritual element in their lives. A staggering amount of music was subsequently created which, surprisingly, still remains little explored in today’s global age.
This disc showcases some of the treasures from this important era in history, and includes works sung in Quechua (the language of the Incas) and Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs). Works such as Padilla’s remarkable Missa Ego flos campi have elements of flowing polyphony from Old Spain combined with lively, often syncopated, short phrases reflecting New Spain. The instrumentation on this disc is also mesmerizing – many different instruments were used extensively, including recorders, chirimias, cornetts, sackbuts and bajons, frequently used to double or replace voices.
Marvelous liturgical music interspersed with more popular, very lively choral works and processionals. Such life!
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