English Church Polyphony: Singers and Sources from the 14th to the 17th Century

by Roger Bowers

Overview

The theme of the essays in this volume is the identification of the resources which between c.1320 and 1642 the English church saw fit to provide for the performance of the music of its liturgy. Individual essays describe the music and the choirs of Canterbury and Lincoln Cathedrals, Winchester Cathedral Priory and the private chapel of Cardinal Wolsey, while the personnel of the chapels of Edward III, the Black Prince and John of Gaunt emerge from study of the texts of compositions of the 14th century. From the alignment of contemporary musical and archival sources there arises a web of conclusions relating to the size of ensemble, vocal scoring and sounding pitch envisaged by its composers for English church polyphony of the period c.1320-1559. These essays thus encompass the two most profound of the revolutions to which the music of the English church was subject at this period: the inauguration and widespread adoption of choral polyphony in the years c.1455-85 and the liturgical and doctrinal Reformation of 1547 to 1563.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781040248454
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/01/2024
Series:	Variorum Collected Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368

Table of Contents

Contents: Church polyphony c.1320-1558: Performance and Notation: The performing ensemble for English church polyphony, c.1320-1390; To chorus from quartet: the performing resource for English church polyphony, c.1390-1559; The vocal scoring, choral balance and performing pitch of Latin church polyphony in England, c.1500-1558; Choirs and their Music from the Middle Ages to the Civil Wars: Canterbury Cathedral: The liturgy of the cathedral and its music, c.1075-1642; The musicians of the Lady Chapel choir of Winchester Cathedral Priory, 1402-1539; Lincoln Cathedral: Music and worship to 1640; The cultivation and promotion of music in the household and orbit of Thomas Wolsey (c.1489-1530); Composition and Employment in Cathedral and Household Chapel: Fixed points in the chronology of English 14th-century polyphony; Some observations on the life and career of Lionel Power; Obligation, agency and laissez-faire: the promotion of polyphonic composition for the church in 15th-century England; Index.

Editorial Reviews

Ten studies written between 1975 and 1993 pivot on the task of identifying the resources that the English church saw fit to direct towards the performance of its liturgical music from about 1340 to 1642. Bowers (music, U. of Cambridge) combines archival and musical research to construct a plausible and defensible account of how singers up to 1559 rendered polyphonic music; sketches individual choral establishments with an example each of four different types; and looks in various ways at composers and the creative milieu of composition, especially in the household chapels of royalty and the secular aristocracy within a general climate that discouraged the composition of any music but sacred. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

'...the writing is extremely clear and the book is strongly recommended.' Early Music Review, No. 52 'His volume opens with three famous essays that are the very basis of recent thought about vocal ensembles and pitch...the volume ends with three essays that will always stand as classics....' Early Music '...this is an enthralling book...An impressive feature of the book is the wealth of documentary evidence and bibliographical references....' Cathedral Music, No. 1 ’All in all this is a most impressive collection of twenty years of scholarship, and comes highly recommended to all students of English music and church history alike.’ Journal of Ecclesiastical History 'This volume represents the major contribution of a Cambridge archival scholar who has notably enriched our knowledge of English church music (and other fields).' Anglican and Episcopal History

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