Music of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century
Click here to hear the service music
Print of “St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, from the Altar” in The History of Royal Residences, Vol. 1, Plate 23; Found on Wikimedia Commons; Public Domain
The second stop on our journey through Anglican Church music will be to visit with Richard Farrant (c. 1539-1580). Formerly a gentleman of the Chapel Royal (an organization of musicians writing and making music for the Royal Court in existence since the twelfth century), we visit him now at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, where he is preparing his choir for Sunday's Anthem. We have had time only to capture a glimpse of the music that survived these centuries although we reap the benefits of the many advances in compositional techniques primarily developed on the continent. Already in the ninth century, adventuresome (or perhaps tone deaf?) individuals were tainting the purity of the single line chant melodies by singing several pitches below the melody (eventually in parallel motion.)
This first style of singing was known as organum, the second as descant. More wanderings from the original melody led to the addition of more frills and various other pitches. Even the addition of a third part came to be common. Gradually the Gregorian melody held only an honorary position being unashamedly embellished by all sorts of other musical voices surrounding it. The fourteenth century saw itself as the Ars Nova (New Art) as compared to the twelfth and thirteenth century Ars Antiqua (Old Style Art). Fifteenth century England celebrated the famous John Dunstable (c.1385-1453). Our beloved carols were born in the fifteenth century. Carols were dance songs alternating solo and chorus parts.
It is significant that our tour guide has allowed us a few moments to visit Windsor during Farrant's time. Let us remember that until the sixteenth century, England had been under the influence of Roman Catholicism. It was King Henry VIII who engineered the reformation of the English church. Within the span of fifteen years he dissolved the monasteries, reorganized the dioceses, and drafted the theological constitution of the new church. We are here at the birth of the Church of England. As Farrant directs his choir at Windsor, a liturgy in English rather than the traditional Latin is fully authorized. The year is 1548. The Music Edict: no Latin, no reference to Mary, one syllable per note, no chant.
As we hear this simply stated, "Lord, for Thy Tender Mercies’ Sake,” we remember Farrant's other contemporaries: Tallis, Tye, Weelkes, and the man considered to be England's Beethoven and the greatest composer of his generation, William Byrd.
