The Caius Choirbook is an

illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also * Illuminate (disambi ...

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 then Master of Arundel College, Edward Higgons, seems to have presented it to the collegiate chapel of Saint Stephen's in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, where he was a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

beginning in 1518. The choirbook is now housed at

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

. The major contributors to the Caius Choirbook are

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 ...

and

Nicholas Ludford Nicholas Ludford (c. 1485 – 1557) was an English composer of the Tudor period. He is known for his festal masses, which are preserved in two early-16th-century choirbooks, the Caius Choirbook at Caius College, Cambridge, and the Lambeth Choirb ...

; between them they contributed at least eleven of its fifteen pieces. Music by older composers, such as Edmund Stourton and Walter Lambe, may be found in the Lambeth and Eton Choirbooks, but not in the Caius Choirbook. Other composers represented in the Caius Choirbook include

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Henry Prentes Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

. There is in addition a Mass by

William Pasche William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, based upon ''

Christus resurgens Christus may refer to: * Christ (title) People * Petrus Christus (c. 1410s – c. 1475), Dutch painter * Sir Christus (1978–2017), Finnish musician Music * ''Christus'' (Liszt), an oratorio * ''Christus'' (Mendelssohn), an unfinished oratorio ...

'', a processional

antiphon An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominentl ...

for

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

References

HOASM.orgDigital Image Archive of Medieval Music

Notes

External links

Playlist of available works from the Caius Choirbook on Spotify
{{Anglican church music 16th-century books 16th-century illuminated manuscripts Music illuminated manuscripts Renaissance music Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Manuscripts in Cambridge Books on English music Renaissance music manuscript sources