Trinity Roll - Agincourt Carol (Fuller Maitland 1891)

The Agincourt Carol (sometimes known as the ''Agincourt Song'', the ''Agincourt Hymn'', or by its chorus and central words, ''

Deo gratias ' (Latin for "thanks eto God") is a Response (liturgy), response in the Tridentine Mass, Latin Mass, derived from the Vulgate text of 1 Corinthians :la:s:Biblia Sacra Vulgata (Stuttgartensia)/ad Corinthios I#15:57, 15:57 and 2 Corinthians :la ...

Anglia'') is an

English folk song The folk music of England is a tradition-based music which has existed since the later medieval period. It is often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music. Folk music traditionally was preserved and passed on orally wit ...

written some time in the early 15th century. It recounts the 1415

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; french: Azincourt ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected English victory against the numerica ...

, in which the English army led by

Henry V of England Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the ...

defeated that of the French Charles VI in what is now the

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The carol is one of thirteen on the

Trinity Carol Roll The Trinity Carol Roll is a 15th-century manuscript of thirteen English carols held by the Wren Library at Trinity College, Cambridge (MS O.3.58). It is the earliest surviving example of polyphonic music written in English.Deeming, HelenDeo Gratias ...

, probably originating in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

, that has been held in the

Wren Library The Wren Library is the library of Trinity College in Cambridge. It was designed by Christopher Wren in 1676 and completed in 1695. Description The library is a single large room built over an open colonnade on the ground floor of Nevile' ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, since the 19th century. The other primary source for the carol is the contemporaneous Selden Carol Book held by the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

in Oxford. The carol is featured in

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...

's 1944 film ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

''. The composer

Ernest Farrar Ernest Bristow Farrar (7 July 1885 – 18 September 1918) was an English composer, pianist and organist. Life Ernest Farrar was born in Lewisham, London, but moved in 1887 to Micklefield in Yorkshire, where his father was a clergyman. The rest ...

created his 1918 ''Heroic Elegy: For Soldiers'' on the basis of the Agincourt Carol.

Lyrics

:''Deo gratias Anglia redde pro victoria!'' :'' ive thanks, England, to God for victory!' :Chorus :''Deo gratias!'' :''Deo gratias Anglia redde pro victoria!'' :Chorus :Chorus :Chorus :Chorus The pattern of a

strophe A strophe () is a poetic term originally referring to the first part of the ode in Ancient Greek tragedy, followed by the antistrophe and epode. The term has been extended to also mean a structural division of a poem containing stanzas of varying ...

(verse) sung in English followed by a burden (chorus) in Latin followed a structure typical of the religious carols of the period. The Agincourt Carol was recorded by

The Young Tradition The Young Tradition were an English folk group of the 1960s, formed by Peter Bellamy, Royston Wood and Heather Wood. They recorded three albums of mainly traditional British folk music, sung in arrangements for their three unaccompanied voices. ...

on ''Galleries'', (with both the

Early Music Consort The Early Music Consort of London was a British music ensemble in the late 1960s and 1970s which specialised in historically informed performance of Medieval and Renaissance music. It was founded in 1967 by music academics Christopher Hogwood and ...

and

Dave Swarbrick David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. His style has been copied or developed by almost every British and many world folk violin players who have followed him. He was ...

contributing), and by the

Silly Sisters (band) The Silly Sisters is an English folk music duo, formed in 1976 by Maddy Prior and June Tabor. History Initially they performed together under their own names, and as such released their first album, ''Silly Sisters'', later taking this name ...

(Maddy Prior and June Tabor) on their second album ''No More to the Dance''.

References

External links

Agincourt carol sheet music

IMSLP

YouTube
Interpretation by The Young Tradition (Peter Bellamy. Royston Wood, Heather Wood), with

David Munrow David John Munrow (12 August 194215 May 1976) was a British musician and early music historian. Early life and education Munrow was born in Birmingham where both his parents taught at the University of Birmingham. His mother, Hilda Ivy (né ...

on shawm, Roddy and Adam Skeaping on viols, and

Christopher Hogwood Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (10 September 194124 September 2014) was an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer, and musicologist. Founder of the early music ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music, he was an authority on historically info ...

on percussion. {{authority control 15th-century songs English folk songs English patriotic songs Hundred Years' War Songwriter unknown Year of song unknown British folk songs British patriotic songs