Boris Ord's Adam lay ybownden is a popular Christmas piece amongst amateur and professional choirs alike for its simplicity and and beauty. There have been many other settings of this text by, amongst others, Thea Musgrave and Howard Skempton. It…
Continue ReadingHow to pronounce Benjamin Britten’s “Wolcum Yule”
During the mid 20th century, the uncovering of some important manuscripts led to a renewed interest in medieval music and poetry. Composer Benjamin Britten was involved in creating editions of newly uncovered Purcell manuscripts and himself wrote a large collection…
Continue ReadingMedieval Resources for Composers
thou wost wol little ho is thi foo.you know well little who is your foe.partial song from Sloane MS 2593 Owing to a growing interest in Medieval Music and manuscripts, partly because of the uncovering of key manuscripts in the…
Continue ReadingNunc Gaudet Maria for SATB choir with divisi
Music by Edward CaineWords: Anonymous 14th/15th Century Nunc Gaudet Maria ("We worship Mary") is one of many Marian hymns found in the Sloane 2593 Manuscript. The Source I’m always on the lookout for interesting texts and I’m not sure why…
Continue ReadingJhesu, Jhesu, Saf us alle thorw thy vertu for SATB choir
Jhesu, Jhesu, Saw us alle thorw [sic] thy vertu was written in the winter of 2020 under national lockdown. I had two rare daytimes when I could focus on composing, and fancied working on some more Sloane MS 2593 texts.…
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