The Eton Choirbook (Eton College MS. 178) is a richly illuminated manuscript collection of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

sacred music composed during the late 15th century. It was one of very few collections of Latin liturgical music to survive the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, and hence is an important source. It originally contained music by 24 different composers; however, many of the pieces are damaged or incomplete. It is one of three large choirbooks surviving from early-Tudor England (the others are the

Lambeth Choirbook The Lambeth Choirbook – also known as the Arundel Choirbook – is an illuminated choirbook dating to the sixteenth century. It contains music for 7 Masses, 4 Magnificats, and 8 motets. Much of the music is by Tudor-period composers. The majo ...

and the

Caius Choirbook The Caius Choirbook is an illuminated choirbook dating to the early sixteenth century and containing music by Tudor-period composers. The book appears to originate from Arundel in Sussex, and to have been created sometime in the late 1520s; the ...

). The Choirbook was compiled between approximately 1500 and 1505 for use at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

; its present binding dates from the mid 16th century. 126 folios 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), followed by

Richard Davy Richard Davy (c. 1465–1507) was a Renaissance composer, organist and choirmaster, one of the most represented in the Eton Choirbook. Biography Little is known about the life of Richard Davy. His name was a common one in Devon and he may have ...

(9) and

Walter Lambe Walter Lambe (1450–1? – after Michaelmas 1504) was an English composer. His works are well represented in the Eton Choirbook. Also the Lambeth Choirbook and the Caius Choirbook include his works. Born in Salisbury, elected King's Scholar ...

(8). Stylistically, the music contained in the Eton Choirbook shows three phases in the development of early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

in England. The first phase is represented by the music of

Richard Hygons Richard Hygons (also Higons, Huchons, Hugo; c. 1435 – c. 1509) was an English composer of the early Renaissance. While only two compositions of this late 15th-century composer have survived, one of them, a five-voice setting of the ''Salve ...

, William Horwood and Gilbert Banester. Most of the music of this early phase is polyphonic but non-imitative, with contrast achieved by alternation of full five-voice

texture Texture may refer to: Science and technology * Surface texture, the texture means smoothness, roughness, or bumpiness of the surface of an object * Texture (roads), road surface characteristics with waves shorter than road roughness * Texture (c ...

with sections sung by fewer voices. The second phase, which includes music by John Browne,

and

, uses imitation,

cantus firmus In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition. The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect tr ...

techniques, and frequent

cross-relation A false relation (also known as cross-relation, non-harmonic relation) is the name of a type of dissonance that sometimes occurs in polyphonic music, most commonly in vocal music of the Renaissance. The term describes a " chromatic contradiction ...

s (a feature which was to become a distinctive sound in early Tudor polyphony). The final phase represented in the choirbook includes music by

William Cornysh William Cornysh the Younger (also spelled Cornyshe or Cornish) (1465 – October 1523) was an English composer, dramatist, actor, and poet. Life In his only surviving poem, which was written in Fleet Prison, he claims that he has been conv ...

and

Robert Fayrfax Robert Fayrfax (23 April 1464 – 24 October 1521) was an English Renaissance composer, considered the most prominent and influential of the reigns of Kings Henry VII and Henry VIII of England. Biography He was born in Deeping Gate, Linco ...

, composed around 1500. Points of imitation are frequent, cantus firmus techniques disappear, and in general the sound of the music is more Continental.

All of the compositions in the book are sacred vocal music in Latin. According to the index, it initially contained 93 works. However, part of its content was lost and only 64 works have survived, a few of them incomplete. They consist of: * 54

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

s * 9

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "

y soul Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...

magnifies

he Lord He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Eastern Christianity, Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated ...

s * 1 Passion The following inventory represents the contents as enumerated by the index, with folio numbers for the works that survive. * 1. f. 1v-4: O Maria salvatoris mater - John Browne (i) * 2. f. 4v-8: Gaude flore virginali - Hugh Kellyk * 3. f. 8v-9v: O Maria plena gratiae - Walter Lambe * 4. f. 10-11: Gaude flore virginali - Richard Davy * 5. f. 11v-14: Stabat mater dolorosa - ?John Browne (ii) * 6. f. 14v: O regina caelestis gloriae - Walter Lambe * 7. f. 15-17: Stabat virgo mater Christi - ?John Browne (i) * 8. f. 17v-19: Stabat juxta Christi crucem - ?John Browne (i) * 9. f. 19v-22: O regina mundi clara - ?John Browne (i) * 10. f. 22v-25: Gaude virgo mater Christi - Sturton * 11. f. 25v: O virgo prudentissima - Robert Wilkinson ncomplete* 12. missing: Gaude flore virginali - Robert Wilkinson * 13. missing: Salve regina vas mundiciae - Fawkner * 14. f. 26: Gaude flore virginali - William Cornysh (senior) ncomplete* 15. f. 26v-29: Salve regina mater misericordiae - Robert Wilkinson * 16. f. 29v-30: Salve regina mater misericordiae - William Brygeman * 17. f. 30v-32: Salve regina mater misericordiae - William Horwood * 18. f. 32v-34: Salve regina mater misericordiae - Richard Davy * 19. f. 34v-36: Salve regina mater misericordiae - ?William Cornysh (senior) * 20. f. 36v-38: Salve regina mater misericordiae - ?John Browne (ii) * 21. f. 038v-40: Salve regina mater misericordiae - Walter Lambe * 22. f. 40v-042: Salve regina mater misericordiae - John Sutton * 23. f. 42v-44: Salve regina mater misericordiae - Robert Hacomplaynt * 24. f. 44v-46: Salve regina mater misericordiae - Nicholas Huchyn * 25. f. 46v-48: Salve regina mater misericordiae - Robert Wilkinson * 26. f. 48v-50: Salve regina mater misericordiae - Robert Fayrfax * 27. f. 50v-52: Salve regina mater misericordiae - Richard Hygons * 28. f. 52v-54: Salve regina mater misericordiae - ?John Browne (i) * 29. f. 54v-56: Salve regina mater misericordiae - John Hampton * 30. f. 56v-59: O Domine caeli terraeque creator - Richard Davy * 31. f. 59v-62: Salve Jesu mater vera - Richard Davy * 32. f. 62v-65: Stabat mater dolorosa - Richard Davy * 33. f. 65v-68: Virgo templum trinitatis - Richard Davy * 34. f. 68v-71: In honore summae matris - Richard Davy * 35. f. 71v-74: O Maria et Elisabeth - Gilbert Banester * 36. f. 74v-76: Gaude flore virginali - William Horwood * 37. f. 76v-77v: Gaude virgo mater Christi - William Horwood * 38. missing: O regina caelestis gloriae - Walter Lambe * 39. missing: Gaude flore virginali - Walter Lambe * 40. missing: Virgo gaude gloriosa - Walter Lambe * 41. missing: Stabat mater dolorosa - Robert Fayrfax * 42. missing: Ave cuius conceptio - Robert Fayrfax * 43. missing: Quid cantemus innocentes - Robert Fayrfax * 44. missing: Gaude flore virginali - John Dunstaple * 45. missing: Ave lux totius mundi - ?John Browne (i) * 46. missing: Gaude flore virginali - ?John Browne (i) * 47. missing: Stabat mater dolorosa - ?William Cornysh (senior) * 48. f. 78-80: Stabat mater dolorosa - ?William Cornysh (senior) * 49. f. 80v-82: Gaude virgo salutata - Fawkner * 50. f. 82v-85: Gaude rosa sine spina - Fawkner * 51. f. 85v-87: Gaude flore virginali - Edmund Turges * 52. f. 87v-88: Nesciens mater virgo virum - Walter Lambe * 53. f. 88v: Salve decus castitatis - Robert Wilkinson * 54. f. 89: Ascendit Christus hodie - Nicholas Huchyn * 55. f. 89v-91v: O mater venerabilis - ?John Browne (i) * 56. missing: Ad te purissima virgo - ?William Cornysh (senior) * 57. f. 92v-93v: Ave lumen gratiae - Robert Fayrfax * 58. missing: O virgo virginum praeclara - Walter Lambe * 59. f. 94-95: Gaude virgo mater Christi - Robert Wilkinson * 60. f. 95v-97: Stabat virgo mater Christi - ?John Browne (i) * 61. f. 97v-99: Stella caeli extirpavit que lactavit - Walter Lambe * 62. f. 99v-101: Ascendit Christus hodie - Walter Lambe * 63. f. 101v-103: Gaude flore virginali - Walter Lambe * 64. f. 103v-105: Gaude flore virginali - Edmund Turges * 65. f. 105v-106: Ave Maria mater Dei - ?William Cornysh (senior) * 66. f. 106v-108: Gaude virgo mater Christi - ?William Cornysh (senior) * 67. f. 108v-110v: Gaude virgo salutata - Holynborne * 68. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - John Browne (i) * 69. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - Richard Davy * 70. f. 111: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - John Nesbet * 71. f. 111v-113: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - William Horwood * 72. f. 113v-116: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - Hugh Kellyk * 73. f. 116v-118: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - Walter Lambe * 74. f. 118v: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - John Browne (i) * 75. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - Robert Fayrfax * 76. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - William Brygeman * 77. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - Robert Wilkinson * 78. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - Robert Mychelson * 79. f. 119-119v: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - Robert Wilkinson * 80. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - William Cornysh (Junior) * 81. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - John Browne (i) * 82. f. 120-120v: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - John Sygar * 83. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - John Browne (i) * 84. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - Edmund Turges * 85. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - Edmund Turges * 86. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - John Baldwin * 87. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - John Sygar * 88. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - John Baldwin * 89. missing: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - Edmund Turges * 90. f. 121: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - Richard Davy * 91. f. 121v-123: Magnificat: Et exultavit spiritus meus - William Stratford * 92. f. 124-126: Passio Domini - Richard Davy * 93. f. 126v: Jesus autem transiens - Robert Wilkinson The composers represented in the manuscript are: John Browne (10 works),

(9),

(8), Robert Wilkinson (7),

(5), William Horwood (4),

(2),

John Fawkyner John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

(2),

Nicholas Huchyn Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...

(2),

Hugh Kellyk Hugh Kellyk (fl.c.1480) was an English composer, whose tree surviving works are preserved in the Eton Choirbook. These two works are a five-part Magnificat and a seven-part Gaude flore virginali, which appear to be among the earlier pieces in the ...

(2),

Edmund Turges Edmund Turges (c. 1450–1500) thought to be also Edmund Sturges (fl. 1507–1508) was an English Renaissance era composer who came from Petworth, was ordained by Bishop Ridley in 155 0, and joined the Fraternity of St. Nicholas (the London Guild ...

(2), Gilbert Banester, Brygeman (1),

Robert Hacomplaynt Robert Hacomblen (also spelt Hacomplaynt, Hacumplaynt, Hacomplayne, Hacomblene, Hacumblen) (1455 or 1456, London – 1528, Cambridge), was provost (education), provost of King's College, Cambridge. Career and legacy Hacomblen was educated at Eto ...

(1),

John Hampton John Stephen Hampton (c. 1806 – 1 December 1869) was Governor of Western Australia from 1862 to 1868. Early life Little is known of John Hampton's early life. His death certificate states that he was born in 1810, but other evidence suggest ...

(1), Holynborne (1),

(1), Nesbet (1), Edmund Sturton (1), John Sutton (1), Sygar (1) and

William Stratford William Stratford D.D. (born Manchester 29 June 1672died Oxford 7 May 1729) was an English priest in the 18th century. Stratford was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. He became Chaplain of the House of Commons and Archdeacon of Richmond in 17 ...

(1). Other composers as Baldwyn,

John Dunstable John Dunstaple (or Dunstable, – 24 December 1453) was an English composer whose music helped inaugurate the transition from the medieval to the Renaissance periods. The central proponent of the ''Contenance angloise'' style (), Dunstaple was ...

and Mychelson also appear in the index, but their works were lost.

Sources

* Harold Gleason and Warren Becker, ''Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance'' (Music Literature Outlines Series I). Bloomington, Indiana. Frangipani Press, 1986. * "Sources, MS, Renaissance Polyphony", from Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed April 24, 2005)
(subscription access)
*

Gustave Reese Gustave Reese ( ; 29 November 1899 – 7 September 1977) was an American musicologist and teacher. Reese is known mainly for his work on medieval and Renaissance music, particularly with his two publications ''Music in the Middle Ages'' (1940) ...

, ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954.

Recordings

* ''The Rose and The Ostrich Feather'', Eton Choirbook Volume I.

Harry Christophers Richard Henry Tudor "Harry" Christophers CBE FRSCM (born 26 December 1953) is an English conductor. Life and career Richard Henry Tudor Christophers was born in Goudhurst, Kent. He was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral under choirmaster Al ...

The Sixteen The Sixteen are a United Kingdom-based choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers, they started as an unnamed group of sixteen friends in 1977, giving their first billed concert in 1979. The group performs early Engl ...

. CORO: CD COR16026. * ''The Crown of Thorns'', Eton Choirbook Volume II. Harry Christophers: The Sixteen. CORO: CD COR16012. * ''The Pillars Of Eternity'', Eton Choirbook Volume III. Harry Christophers: The Sixteen. CORO: CD COR16022. * ''The Flower of All Virginity'', Eton Choirbook Volume IV. Harry Christophers: The Sixteen. CORO: CD COR16018. * ''Voices of Angels'', Eton Choirbook Volume V. Harry Christophers: The Sixteen. CORO: CD COR16002. * ''More Divine Than Human: Music from The Eton Choir Book, vol 1''. Stephen Darlington: Choir of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford. Avie: AV2167. * ''Courts of Heaven: Music from The Eton Choirbook, vol 3''. Stephen Darlington: Choir of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford. Avie. * ''Music from the Eton Choirbook'', Tonus Peregrinus, Antony Pitts, Dir. Naxos 8.572840 * ''Eton Choirbook, Record 2.'' Purcell Consort of Voices, Choristers of All Saints, Margaret Street, Dir. Grayston Burgess. Vinyl LP, Argo ZRG 557. * ''Richard Davy: Passion According To St. Matthew.'' (Eton Choirbook, Record 1). Purcell Consort of Voices, Choristers of All Saints, Margaret Street, Dir. Grayston Burgess. Vinyl LP, Argo ZRG 558. * ''The Eton Choirbook''

Huelgas Ensemble The Huelgas Ensemble is a Belgian early music group formed by the Flemish conductor Paul Van Nevel in 1971. The group's performance and extensive discography focuses on Renaissance polyphony. The name of the ensemble refers to a manuscript of pol ...

, Dir.

Paul Van Nevel Paul Van Nevel (born 4 February 1946) is a Belgian conductor, musicologist and art historian. In 1971 he founded the Huelgas Ensemble, a choir dedicated to polyphony from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Van Nevel is known for hunting out lit ...

. 2012 DHM: CD 88765408852.

Bibliography

*Benham, Hugh: ''Latin Church Music in England c. 1460-1575'' (London, 1977), 58ff, passim CM descriptor(s): DpLpTpFpDis*Bent, Margaret; Bent, Ian; Trowell, Brian (eds.): ''John Dunstable complete works'', Musica Britannica Vol. VIII (London, 1970) nd revised edn X-XII *Bent, Margaret; Bent, Ian: 'Dufay, Dunstable, Plummer-A New Source' ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'' XXII (1969), 394 - 424 *Blume, Friedrich (ed.): ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik'' (Kassel, 1949–79) ited by volume and column number II, 1591-5, Tafel 48 *Cheung, Vincent C.K., ''Tudor Dedications to the Blessed Virgin: History, Style, and Analysis of Music from the Eton Choirbook''

*Curtis, Gareth; Wathey, Andrew: 'Fifteenth-Century English Liturgical Music: A List of the Surviving Repertory' ''RMA Research Chronicle'' 27 (1994), 1-69 *Fitch, Fabrice: 'Hearing John Browne's motets: registral space in the music of the Eton Choirbook', ''Early Music'' 36(1) (2008), 19-40 *Harrison, Frank Ll.: ''Music in Medieval Britain'' (London, 1963), 307-29 *Harrison, Frank Llewellyn: 'The Eton Choirbook: Its Background and Contents (Eton College Library ms. 178)' ''Annales Musicologiques'' I (1953), 151-75 *Harrison, Frank Llewellyn: 'The Eton College Choirbook (Eton College MS 178)', in ''International Musicological Society: Report of the 4th Congress, Utrecht 1952'' (1952), 224-32 *Heminger, A. ''Music Theory at Work: The Eton Choirbook, Rhythmic Proportions and Musical Networks in Sixteenth-Century England''. Early Music History, 37, (2018) 141-182. *Hughes, Dom Anselm: 'The Eton Manuscript' ''Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association'' LIII (1926-7), 67-83 *James, Montague Rhodes: ''A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Eton College'' (Cambridge, 1895), 108-12 *Kirsch, Winfried: ''Die Quellen der mehrstimmigen Magnificat- und Te Deum Vertonungen bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts'' (Tutzing, 1966), 135 *Phillips, Peter: 'Performance Practice in l0th-Century English Choral Music' ''Early Music'' VI (1978), 195-9 CM descriptor(s): FpDis*Phillips, Peter: 'Eton encounters; reflections on the Choirbook'. ''Musical Times'' 1939 (2017), 3-60. *Sandon, Nicholas: 'Fragments of Medieval Polyphony at Canterbury Cathedral' '' Musica Disciplina'' XXX (1976), 37-53, 51-3 *Squire, W. Barclay: 'On an early Sixteenth Century MS. of English Music in the Library of Eton College' ''Archaeologia'' LVI (1898), 89-102 *Warren, Edwin B.: ''Life and Works of Robert Fayrfax'', MSD Vol. 22 (

American Institute of Musicology The American Institute of Musicology (AIM) is a musicological organization that researches, promotes and produces publications on early music. Founded in 1944 by Armen Carapetyan, the AIM's chief objective is the publication of modern editions ...

, 1969), 42 *Westrup, J. A.; ''et al.'', (eds.): ''New Oxford History of Music'' (London, New York, and Toronto, 1954-), III, Plate III *Williams, Carol J.: 'The Salve Regina Settings in the Eton Choirbook' ''Miscellanea Musicologica delaide' X (1979), 28-37 CM descriptor(s): LpDis*Williamson, Magnus: ''The Eton Choirbook, Facsimile with introductory study'' (Oxford: DIAMM Publications, 2010) *For a comprehensive description of the MS se
Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music

External links

*Free access to high-resolutio
images of this manuscript
from Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music
Playlist of available works from the Eton Choirbook on American SpotifyList of contents of Eton Choirbook
(published in ''

Musica Britannica ''Musica Britannica'' is a trust founded in 1951, as "an authoritative national collection of British music". One of its co-founders, Anthony Lewis, served as the publication's first chief editor for many years. A programme about the project, wit ...

'', Vols. X, XI and XII) * * {{Authority control 1500s books 16th-century illuminated manuscripts Music illuminated manuscripts Renaissance music Books on English music Renaissance music manuscript sources Eton College