Reformation Music in England Flashcards
Give a timeline of royalty during the Reformation
1534: Church of England established under Henry VIII (Act of Supremacy)
1547: Edward VI; Second Chantries Act
1553: Mary I
1558: Queen Elizabeth (Act of Supremacy again)
1570: Elizabeth excommunicated from Roman Catholic Church
What is the importance of the Reformation?
- Important to distinguish between different types of reformation: political and religious
- For most of his life, Henry was orthodox Roman Catholic
- Religion often presented an alternative to politics
- Doctrine, liturgy, infrastructure of church became something the government could control; thus monarch’s taste in religion had dominant effect
What changes happened under Henry VIII?
- Act of Supremacy gave him more control over religion than any king had before
- Main change was creation of English versions of processions
- Thomas Cranmer (archbishop of canterbury) in charge of this
- Cranmer composed his own plainsongs to be sung during penitential processions: argued they should have ‘for every syllable a note’
What changes happened under Edward VI (or at least his advisors?)
- Main period of reform
- Chantries (side chapels in bigger churches and cathedrals) – also devoted to private worship;
- Scripture should be directly understood by worship; in the vernacular, not in Latin
- Direct relationship with Jesus
- Secularisation of church property – lots of choirs disbanded such as St Stephen’s Westminster.
- Requiems removed; theology of purgatory is removed; removing the excuse for lots of sacred polyphony.
What was the musical result of change under Edward VI/Cranmer?
- Chapel royal centre of reform
- Compline, mass settings all sung in English
- Office hours reduced into matins and Evensong in the new Book of Common prayer (1547), but no musical direction indicated – don’t know if polyphony was allowed at all.
- Music not seen as very important so changes caused confusion for musicians – esp different rates of change across country because of lack of uniformity between cathedrals.
- Only 10 singers allowed in Westminster e.g. – shows how unimportant music was for leaders.
What change happened under Mary Tudor?
- Severe reversal to Catholic tradition; full communication with Rome
- Latin texts reassumed for services
- Music pre-reformation style (Tallis reverted)
What change happened under Elizabeth I?
- Ascension at time of great religious division because of predecessors
- Elizabethan Act of Uniformity new book of common prayer
- 1559 injunctions similar to Edwardian, but talk about music: less strict rules on syllabic text setting than Edwardian.
- But recusant community thriving, including musicians.
What were the significant liturgical documents published under Edward VI?
- Prayer books from 1549 and 1552 (this one more radical) which revised and reinvented the Catholic liturgy
- Evensongs introduced: combining of mag and nunc
- Office hours also as Matins
- 1547 Royal injunctions
Who was Tallis?
- Career spans whole period starting in 1520s
- Started as a musician in Dover then Canterbury Cathedral before being enrolled in Chapel Royal in 1543
- Various styles traces the religious change between Henry VIII and Edward VI
- N.b. precise dating of Tallis’ works is not possible
- Tallis psalm settings – part of reformation was to make psalter accessible to everyone; theologians translated it into English metred rhyming poetry (had to contort vocab a bit) – which appeared in the 1560s as the Archbishop Parker psalter which contains all 150 psalms in metrical verse. Tallis created tunes for some of the psalms which have made into NEH.
Give 3 contrasting examples of Tallis’ music.
o Ave Dei patris filia (Earliest marian motets in 1530s) – 6 voice parts starting with duo sections, typical of pre-reformation style; in honour of Virgin Mary (but different in style to continent, less concision)
o Sancte Deus (later Henrician style c.1540s) – taste for Marian antiphons declined; antiphons tend to be a direct call to Jesus. More declamatory in style with more concision in paragraphing – no big duo/trio sections (but still melismatic)
o If ye love me; Hear the voice and prayer (English Anthems - Edwardian) – showcases what Cranmer says about syllabic text setting. Radical – very concise but still with strategies of structural imitation. Essentially inventing new genre.
Who was Byrd?
- Was at centre of political life in London
- Started off as chorister at Westminster then Chapel Royal
- Protégé of Tallis
- Worked as organist at Lincoln Cathedral – where there is evidence of his traditional catholic views (clashed with clergy there)
- 1572 – became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal
- Enjoyed patronage of Queen Elizabeth
- But also tread the line between composing public English music and secret Latin music for Roman Catholic tradition
- Useful to compare English and Latin music
What was Byrd’s English music like? Give examples.
Byrd English services (mag/nunc) : ‘short service’, ‘second service’, ‘third service’ – written for Lincoln Cathedral
Short and Third service:
- Largely homophonic
- Sections split between dec and can – creates antiphonal effect
- Syllabic
Second service:
- Fully accompanied on organ
- Starts with alto solo then choral response
- Uniquely Anglican style – elaborate form later exploited by composers eg Gibbons e.g. Record of John
Give an example of Byrd’s legitimate Latin music
1575 Cantione Sacre – first full commercial volume of polyphony printed (quite late behind continent in terms of printing!)
- Elizabeth allowed/commissioned(?) Byrd and Tallis to compile and print the volume – comprising of sacred songs (for private/devotional market, not for church)
- Contains last works of Tallis in a new, more elaborate style (but not as much as others – e.g. Salvator Mundi, contrapuntal but syllabic)
- Not Marian/in honour of saints – observe restraints of Protestant Church
- Contains first Latin music of Byrd
- Cantione Sacre may have been a failure with printing problems and not much demand
Who were the recusants? How did Byrd compare?
- 1580s/90s – Byrd moved his operations to Essex, away from London. Supported by Catholic patrons e.g. Earl of Worcester. In a position where he is writing music for a secret catholic community, known as recusants. Byrd’s wife was constantly fined for her catholic worship.
- Notable persecutions in the period included death of Edward Campion – hung, drawn and quartered, Henry Garnett (Jesuit priest) – executed in 1601 and Byrd knew him.
- Recusant community under Elizabeth related to ideas of exile from bible
Give an example of Byrd’s secretive Latin music.
Mass for 3 Voices – Kyrie
- Collection of masses published in secret – dangerous as partaking in Latin mass could result in death
- First masses published in Latin in over 40 years – no tradition on which to draw from, so they are unique
- Scoring – alternation between duos and trios and full 8 parts – able to proclaim moments in bold homophony that stand out compared to smaller sections
