English Church Polyphony

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.

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.