The Keyboard Music of Thomas Tallis

Author(s): Denis Stevens

Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 93, No. 1313 (Jul., 1952), pp. 303-307
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/935200
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 July 1952 THE MUSICAL TIMES 303
corporate outlook, some fair
a shameless pun-sub measure of consi
specie Temporum forsooth-
tency of view in a team of writers'. Solvitur was not warning enough against a trailing coat-tail.
ambulando, in fact, as in so many other apparently For once it seems he was not pontifical enough.
formidable difficulties of conduct. If he really exists it would be doing him a kind-
If our colleague had written as cautiously in hisness to warn him that unseasonable flippancy on
previous sentence as he does in this one, maybe serious issues is not expected of The Times by its
this storm in a tea-cup would not have blown up. readers. By now he must realize the folly of
But how dangerous it is in this solemn business ofexpressing his doubtlessly sincere convictions in
musical criticism to indulge in a pleasantry: even such provocative terms.

The Keyboard Music of Thomas Tallis

By DENIS STEVENS
adequate, but cannot now be called modern, yet
in the
T HERE wasdissolution
nothing of the Abbey of or
extraordinary theunusual
Holy his pioneering deserves some praise in view of the
Cross, Waltham, in the year 1540. Already eighty-eight years which were to pass by before
a well-established practice, the dissolving of further examples of Tallis's keyboard music came
monastic possessions and power was apt to come into the public domain. These two examples, both
with ample warning but little remedy. The Abbot settings of the offertory Felix namque, appeared in
of Waltham was far from being unprepared, and the 1899 edition of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book,
he saw to it that those in his charge were given prepared by Fuller-Maitland and Barclay Squire.
whatever was due to them by way of wages, reward, Dated respectively 1562 and 1564, these settings
or pension, when the dreaded warrant at last frame cantus firmus canvases of such vastness that
arrived. Fourth in the Abbot's list of seventy liturgical use seems out of the question. It is in
names was that of Thomas Tallis, one of the fact safe to assume that by the beginning of
organists and singing men, who being too young toElizabeth's reign Felix namque had become para-
qualify for a pension, received a gratuity of twentyliturgical if not (like 'In nomine') completely
shillings, which one hopes he was fortunate secular.
enough to exchange either for property or a bene- Forty years after the publication of the Fitz-
fice, before Henry saw fit to debase the silver william Virginal Book a slim volume, containing
coinage in 1542. Indeed, some such exchange may most of Tallis's purely liturgical organ music,
well have taken place, for recently-discovered appeared under the aegis of the Plainsong and
evidence shows that Tallis became a lay clerk of Mediaeval Music Society. This volume, entitled
Canterbury Cathedral in 1541. There is no 'Early English Organ Music ', was edited by M. H.
evidence, however, to tell us what he brought away Glyn, who drew most of the pieces from the
from Waltham on the first stage of his journey manuscript
to which Cummings had owned.* The
London, although a large book on musical theory, majority of the pieces are settings of Sarum hymns,
at one time in the library of the Abbey, bears and they recall the practice of alternating organ
Tallis's signature to this day. verses with plainsong verses, sung in unison by
After three centuries had elapsed, a young the choir. A similar method of alternation was
London organist, who eventually came to own the applied to Magnificat, Te Deum, and even to the
largest collection of keyboard music by Tallis, set Ordinary of the Mass. With three organs at his
out in exactly the opposite direction-that is from disposal in Waltham Abbey, Tallis must have had
London to Waltham-at the unfriendly hour of considerable practice in this art of alternation,
five in the morning. His aim was to reach Waltham which is now almost entirely lost. Lost too are
in time for the eleven o'clock service, and he Tallis's own manuscripts, unless we are to believe
covered the ground as Tallis probably did-on foot. with Thomas Warren that part of 29996t is in his
The young organist's name was William H. hand; and this is not easily proved. Tallis may
Cummings, later renowned as a successful teacher, have given away his music before he died, if he
executant, and collector. He it was who bought did not leave it safely stored away in the ' barred
at one of Sotheby's sales a manuscript organ book chest with twoe locks ' which Mrs. Tallis mentioned
containing a number of compositions by Tallis,in her will.
and this book was acquired in 1877 by the British One authentic example of the composer's signa-
Museum, where Tallis's theory book is also to be ture is still to be seen on one of the flyleaves of the
found. theory book, or 'Musica Guidonis', which he
Thomas Tallis, we are told by the great dic- brought away with him from the Abbey.+ The
tionaries, was an organist and a composer. Yet treatises in this book were transcribed and com-
his organ music, or rather keyboard music (for piled about 1460 by a precentor named John
instruments were rarely designated by name) has Wylde, and though most of the Latin ones are
so far evaded systematic cataloguing, neither mediaeval in origin, the English may date from
Eitner nor Grove giving it that same recognition the middle of the fifteenth century, and so may have
or fullness of treatment bestowed upon the vocal influenced Tallis's early studies.
works. This seemingly unjust neglect of an impor- * Known as the Mulliner Book, which was published in its
tant aspect of Tallis's work can perhaps be partly entirety last year as vol. 1 of 'Musica Britannica'.
explained away by the serious lack, until quite t For the key to this and other shelfmarks, see list at end.
recently, of adequate modern reprints. Stafford treatises
: Now in the British Museum, Lansdowne MS 763. Three of the
are discussed in Speculum, x.235 (Mediaeval Academy of
Smith's publication of a 'Lesson in 1812 was America).

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 304 THE MUSICAL TIMES July 1952
We do not know where or from whom Tallis Musically, Tallis was broad-minded, and he was
as ready to make music in the home as in the
learnt the craft of composition, but he was recog-
nized throughout his lifetime as a master of thatchurch: part-songs and string pieces have come
craft, being much sought after as a teacher during
down to us, together with music for the virginals.
Like Byrd, he showed himself willing to compose
his periods of office at Canterbury and the Chapel
Royal. Sir John Harington's father and Sir music for the English church service as well as
Ferdinand Richardson were both pupils of Tallis,for the Latin rite, though his finest work is un-
and it was Richardson who contributed one of the doubtedly to be found in the motets based on
eulogistic poems to ' Cantiones Sacrae', a joint plainsong cantus firmi, and in their keyboard
publication of Tallis and Byrd which appeared in counterpart, the liturgical organ music.
1575. One verse of the poem is found in a Christ Although the two great settings of Felix narnque
Church manuscript: have already been mentioned, it should be stressed
Quatuor illustris vixit sub Regibus iste that there are only two, and not four, as the
Tallisius magno dignus honore senex. editors of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book thought.
Sub quibus eximius si musicus esset habendus A note on the first Felix namque (vol. 1, p. xxvi)
Tallisius semper gloria prima fuit. states that this is one of four settings of plainsong
In a neighbouring part-book his name was used similarly named, by Tallis. The editors go on to
as a pun: say that the version in 30485 has no connection
Talis es e tantus Tallisi musicus, ut si with either setting in the Fitzwilliam Book, and
Fata senem auferrent musica muta foret.
that a fourth Felix namque is found in 31403.
In Baldwin's manuscript (now in the King's Actually this is note for note the same as the
Library, British Museum) it served as a rhyme,setting in 30485, so the total is now reduced from
albeit a feeble one: four to three.
I will begin with white, shepper, tye and tallis:
At this point we should look back a little into
parsons, gyles, mundie th'ould: one of the
the early history of the organ Mass, from which
queenes pallis:
the offertory Felix namque derives. It was generally
John Case, of Woodstock, placed him among an
the custom for the priest to intone the first phrase
august company in his 'Apologia Musices':
of the offertory before the organ took over the
Periander Rex Corinthiorum Arionem... plainsong and elaborated upon it; thus a large
Angli non ita pridem Tavernum, Blithmanum,
number of those settings of Felix namque which
Tallesium, Morum, aliosque insignos musicos
have come down to us begin with the plainsong
magnis premiis affecerunt.
And the echo came back a decade later in 'A melody for the word namque. On rare occasions
the music for the opening word is set also; indeed
Comparative Discourse of our English Poets' by
Francis Meres:
Tallis himself does this in both settings contained
in the Fitzwilliam Book. The plainsong in the
As Greece had these excellent musicians, Arion,
first (dated 1562) is transposed to the fourth above,
Dorceus, Timotheus Milesius ... so England
beginning on G, and its course can be clearly fol-
hath these, Master Cooper, Master Fairfax,
lowed up to the double-bar. In the second setting
Master Tallis, Master Taverner, Master Blithe-
man . . .
(dated 1564) the transposition is to the fourth
below, beginning on A. Here the plainsong is
and so on until we reach Master Morley. Tallis
skilfully decorated and disguised, forming an
was certainly not without renown in his own day,
epigrammatic subject which is used imitatively.
and in his own country. He won that renown by
Again the double-bar comes, repeat marks and
persevering and being industrious, andall, owed his
*though these may originally have been nothing
skill to his teachers, his own practice, and more very
than scribal decorations, for there is no
likely to his 'Musica Guidonis'. For theory point in repeating the music for the word Felix,
books were hard to find, and the possessor of a
and no sense in repeating the four hundred bars
manuscript volume full of such treasures could
that follow, unless a display of physical stamina is
hardly fail to make use of them. Tallis's fellow- intended.
musicians may have spent many hours searching
It is after the double-bar that the music becomes
likely bookshops, in the hope of coming across a
tattered copy of ' Musica Activa ', the ' Opus especially interesting, since from this point until
aureum musice', or the 'Arismetrica musice' the beginning of the coda (on a pedal A) it corre-
published in Paris.* A good grounding in theory, sponds almost exactly with the versions in 30485
then as now, served to fortify the man who wishedand 31403. Once more the total number of settings
to make musical sense out of any number of real is reduced, this time from three to two, which is
parts, from two to forty. the correct number. It is now possible to see
It is a pity that so little is known of Tallis the why Fuller-Maitland and Barclay Squire were so
man. He must have been a hard-working and puzzled by the remark in 30485-' in the Virginal
thrifty soul, for he had property and many valuableBook 1562'. In the interests of accuracy, the
goods at the time of his death. A generosity which scribe should have written 'in the Virginal Book
succumbed to subtle prompting is hinted at in his1564', but the fact remains that he gave a clue
will, where there is evidence that he intended to which was unfortunately disregarded.
give his overseers, Byrd and Cranwell, only half Two further copies of this setting deserve to be
of what they did in fact receive as a gratuity.t considered, for each occurs in a famous Virginal
* All of these titles are mentioned in the daily ledger of John * Van den Borren, in 'The Sources of Keyboard Music in
Dorne, an Oxford bookseller of the early sixteenth century. England ' [1913], p. 163, assumes that there are ' two short preludes '
(Oxford Historical Society, Collectanea I, 119.) before each setting. The transpositions led him to believe that the
t The will was proved on 29 November 1585 (P.C.C. 52 Brude- second setting was ' written upon another melodic version of the
nell). Felix Namque '.

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 July 1952 THE MUSICAL TIMES 305
Book, and each has a unique
Clarifica feature
me pater occurs three times, but which
without p
(if nothing else) the unreliability title; and had not Tomkins miscalledofit 'copyists
Glorifica ' i
seventeenth century. in 1122First
it might have there
proved even more is the
difficult to cop
Will Forster's Book, identify obviously transmitted
than it actually was. The first setting is b
unreliable and clumsily-bound manuscript,
characterized by a smoothly-running quaver figure n
happily lost. The piece which buildsisup headed
from the bass, via 'Felix
the alto, to the nunq
no composer's name treble. is given,The second, whichthe text
has a point is over
not unlike
with all the ornamental that of Venitrumpery
Redemptor II makes use of of desicca
a sign-
virginalism, and to two make short lines matters
through the stem of worse,
a note-show- on
the pages - presumably bound
ing the player in isthe
that a new point about to bewrong
round-has caused Forster 'brought in' asto Morleyjump
would say. a The huge
third sec
and then return to it later, repeating various setting is based on a changing-note figure which
smaller sections in the process. Benjamin Cosyn, occasionally resolves itself in an irregular, or rather
on the other hand, has identified correctly both un-Italian way. Of the two remaining antiphons
title and composer, and follows the Fitzwilliam treated by Tallis, only the first appears in the Mulli-
version faithfully except in the omission of the ner Book, where it is written out on a stave con-
coda and the addition (perhaps through excess oftaining twelve lines. This setting of Natus est
zeal) of an extra Felix, which oddly enough has nobis is short and simple, the left-hand part pro-
been bodily lifted and duly transposed from the viding a decorative and smoothly-running counter-
other setting of Felix Namque. Diagrammatically, point. The second antiphon, Gloria tibi Trinitas,
the situation is thus: is found in 371, where the scribe calls it ' ii parts
1. 1562 Fitzwilliam - Felix namque - on a round time '. It is in fact a free canon at the
Cosyn Felix Felix namque octave, the plainsong being subject to figural
Fitzwilliam Felix - namque (coda) treatment throughout.
II. 1564 Forster Felix - namque (coda) The seven hymn settings are all contained in
30485 - - namque Mulliner, but since there are never more than two
L31403 - - namque - verses of any one hymn, the reconstruction of a
The best source is obviously the Fitzwilliam complete scheme Book,
of organ-plainsong alternation is
yet not even this was close to the rendered original extremely
in point difficult.* Veni Redemptor I
of time, though its pages bear numerical has the cantus firmus in the alto, where it is
references
treated in florid fashion. The text of Veni
to the manuscript from which the Tallis pieces
were copied. * Redemptor II is unfortunately corrupt, but thanks
Felix namque is long enough when treated by to a concordance in 23623 (where it is attributed
Shelbye, Rhys, Redford and Farrant; in Tallis's to Bull) some restoration is possible. There are
hands, with every semibreve in the cantus firmus two settings of Ecce tempus idoneum, the second
repeated, it stretches to an enormous length. The being unsigned but undoubtedly by Tallis, although
longer the note, the slower the harmonic changes: it is harmonically somewhat more adventurous
yet Tallis shows no signs of undue anxiety. He than the first setting. Ex more docti mistico displays
seems to possess a wealth of pre-fabricated figura- to good effect Tallis's superjacent style, which so
tion, which if rhythmically somewhat stolid, never- often gives the impression of a five-part version:
theless has the virtue of keeping the movement a low alto part disappears when a pseudo-treble is
going-a very necessary factor in music for the well on its way, this moving down in turn to make
virginals. He exploited most thoroughly all that way for the real treble. The same device occurs
could be done with two hands on a diminutive in lam lucis orto sidere, which again makes con-
keyboard, and younger contemporaries (notably centrated use of a changing-note figure. Iste
Byrd) took over this figuration without adding confessor,
to Tallis's only three-part organ verse,
it to any appreciable extent.t Whether Cabezon embodies a typically instrumental theme of distinct
also took note of it during his visit to England angularity.
cannot be proved by evidence either documentary Of the three remaining organ pieces, one (from
or musical. Van den Borren thinks it quite371 and 1034) is untitled, but it is probably a
pos-
sible, for the Spanish sojourn lasted from 1554 Fantasy,
toand has been so indexed in the list at the
1556, and Tallis, then in his early forties,end of this article. The extended passage in
would
have had some keyboard music to his credit. sixths for the right hand is quite unusual in
Tallis's shorter works. The short 'Point' which
Angles is of the opinion that the influence travelled
in the reverse direction, + although a comparison
appears in Mulliner has a fugato opening, but is
of Cabezon's O lux beata trinitas in the ' Libro no more distinguished than the incomplete 'Lesson'
de Cifra Nueva ' of 1557, with O lux on the faburdenfound in 30485. This is a neat canon in two
by Redford (d. 1547) shows without a shadow parts,
of with a third (free) part adding judicious
doubt that the Englishman was by far the contrapuntalmore colour.
advanced of the two. And if Redford could Six transcriptions of vocal pieces occur in the
outstrip Cabezon it is certain that Tallis would Mulliner Book, and they are clearly meant to be
have been able to do so. played as instrumental solos. 'Fond youth is a
Of the twelve short plainsong settings, eleven bubble', listed in Grove as a part-song, has not
are found in the Mulliner Book. The antiphon yet yielded up its original text, though the same
music is found doing service as an anthem-' Purge
* I am indebted to Miss Betty Cole for this information. me, O Lord, from all my sin '. The lyric of' Like
+ Cf. the Introduction to ' Forty-five Keyboard Pieces by William as the doleful dove', a part-song of attractive
Byrd', edited by Stephen D. Tuttle (Lyre-Bird Press).
* Except perhaps in the case of Ecce tempus, a five-verse hymn
I ' La Musica en la Corte de Carlos V', p. 127. in which Tallis's two settings could serve for verses 2 and 4.

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 306 THE MUSICAL TIMES July 1952
solemnity, is the work entitled of William ' When shall Hunnis,
my sorrowful of the
sighing',
Chapel Royal. The transcript which the editorsgiven of 'Tudor by Hawkins
Church Music'
is quite good, apart from a too
describe as ancareful
anthem, while adherence
a sixteenth-centur
to the original at the words' Scottish scribeWhose calls itfalling
' ane singular fromauld sang ii
the tree . . . ', where the melody
partis' (33933 f.60). Abegins an in
copy is also found octave
74
too low and thus destroys the climax. The along with several early settings of the Psalms,
whose words closely resemble those of the 1544
text of' O ye tender babes ' has not yet been traced,
but the music is mainly homophonic and similar Prymer.
in style to the Hunnis part-song. Per haec nos is It a is to be hoped that Tallis's keyboard music
short three-part extract from the motet Salvewill eventually gain the recognition it deserves,
intemerata virgo, and seems to have enjoyed great for although so little remains to testify to his skill,
popularity with both singers and players. ' Remem-it is abundantly clear from what does exist-and
ber not, O Lord ', which is a simple organ score all this is now available in print-that Tallis is one
of the anthem printed by Day, must have been of the few links between the pre-Reformation
composed before 1550, and is probably one of the organists and the Elizabethan virginalists. It is
earliest of Tallis's musical contributions to the the duty of all keyboard players to give him a fair
English liturgy. Even earlier perhaps is the chance.
piece

THOMAS TALLIS
KEYBOARD COMPOSITIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS
Arrangements are shown thus: ?
Organ scores of Services are excluded.

Title Manuscripts Printed texts

[Clarifica me pater I] .. .. Mulliner f. 98v .. .. . .. Glyn p. 7; MB p. 74
[Clarifica me pater II] .. .. Mulliner f. 99v .. .. .. .. Glyn p. 10; MB p. 75
[Clarifica me pater III] .. .. Mulliner f. 101 .. .. . .. Glyn p. 3; MB p. 76
Ecce tempus idoneum I .. .. Mulliner f. 99 .. . .. .. Glyn p. 7; MB p. 74
Ecce tempus idoneum II .. .. Mulliner f. 101v .. .. .. .. Glyn p. 4; MB p. 77
Ex more docti mistico .. .. Mulliner f. 97v .. .. .. .. Glyn p. 6; MB p. 73
[Fantasy] .. .. .. .. 371 f. 5; 1034 f. 4 .. .. .. .. Glyn p. 13
Felix namque I .. .. .. Fitz no. 109 .. .. .. .. FWB i. 427
Felix namque II .. .. .. Fitz no. 110 .. .. .. .. FWB ii. 1
Cosyn f. 79v; Forster f. 14v ; 30485 f. 26;
31403 f. 27v.
Fond youth is a bubble ? .. .. Mulliner f. 29v .. .. .. .. MB p. 21
30480 f. 49 .. .. .. .. .. TCM 8vo no. 67
Gloria tibi Trinitas .. .. 371 f. 14 .. .. . . .. Glyn p. 12
lam lucis orto sidere .. .. Mulliner f. 84v .. .. .. .. Glyn p. 5; MB p. 64
Iste confessor .. .. .. Mulliner f. 102 .. .. .. .. Glyn p. 11; MB p. 77
Lesson .. .. .. .. 30485 f. 59 .. .. . .. .. Smith; Weitzmann p. 324
Like as the doleful dove ? .. Mulliner f. 109v ; 722 f. 43v .. .. Hawkins ii; MB p. 84
O ye tender babes ? .. .. Mulliner f. 81 .. .. .. .. MB p. 61
Per haec nos ? .. .. .. Mulliner f. 114v .. .. .. .. MB p. 87; Glyn p. 2
Baldwin f. 159v .. .. . .. TCM vi, 151
24h f. 108; 342 f. 86v; 423 p. 98; 2035 f. 6;
f. 40v; 29246 f. 9v.
Point* . . .. .. Mulliner f. 100v .. .. .. .. Glyn p. 6; MB p. 76
Natus est nobis .. .. .. Mulliner f. 12v .. .. .. .. Wolf HdN ii.; MB p. 8
Remember not, O Lord ... .. Mulliner f. 49v; 74 f. 13 .. .. .. MB p. 36; Day M; Day P
Veni Redemptor I .. .. Mulliner f. 97 .. .. .. .. Glyn p. 8; MB p. 72
Veni Redemptor II .. .. Mulliner f. 100; 23623 f. 167 .. .. MB p. 75
When shall my sorrowful sighing ? Mulliner f. 83v .. .. .. .. MB p. 63
74 f. 35v; 30480 f. 48; 33933 f. 60; OCS no. 351
36484 f. 1
* The point in Glyn p. 19 is not proved to be by Tallis.

KEY TO PRINTED TEXTS

Day M .. .. .. .. Day: Morning and Evening Prayer (London 1565).
Day P .. .. .. .. Day: The Whole Psalter (London 1563).
FWB .. .. .. .. The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (Leipzig 1899).
Glyn .. .. .. .. Glyn: Early English Organ Music (London 1939).
Hawkins .. .. .. .. Hawkins's History of Music (London 1776).
MB .. .. .. .. .. The Mulliner Book (Musica Britannica, vol. 1) (London 1951).
OCS .. .. .. .. The Oxford Choral Songs (London, n.d.).
Smith .. .. .. .. J. S. Smith: Musica Antiqua (London 1812).
TCM .. .. .. .. Tudor Church Music (London 1923-29).

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 July 1952 THE MUSICAL TIMES 307
TCM 8vo .. .. .. .. Octavo edition of Tudor Church Music.
Weitzmann .. .. .. Weitzmann: Geschichte des Klavierspiels (Stuttgart 1879).
Wolf HdN .. .. .. .. Johannes Wolf: Handbuch der Notationskunde (Leipzig 1919).
KEY TO MANUSCRIPTS

(B.M., British Museum ; F.M., Fitzwilliam Museum ; St. M., St. Michael's College, T
Christ Church, Oxford ; Bod., Bodleian ; P.C., Paris Conservatoire)
Baldwin King's Ms. RM 24 d 2 .. B.M. 423 .. Ms. Mus. Sch. e 423 .. Bod.
Cosyn .. King's Ms. RM 24 1 4 .. B.M. 722 .. R.C.M. Ms. 722 .. .. B.M.
Fitz .. Mus. Ms. 32 G 29 .. .. F.M. 1034 .. Mus. Ms. 1034 .. .. Ch. Ch.
Forster King's Ms. RM 24 d 3 .. B.M. 1122 .. Reserve 1122 .. .. .. P.C.
Mulliner Add. Ms. 30513 .. .. B.M.
2035 .. R.C.M. Ms. 2035 .. .. B.M.
24h .. King's Ms. RM 24 h 11 .. B.M.
74 .. Royal App. 74-76 .. .. B.M. 23623, 29996, 30480, 30485, 31403, 33933 and
342 .. Tenbury Ms. 342 .. .. St. M. 36484 are all British Museum Additional
371 .. Mus. Ms. 371 .. .. Ch. Ch. Manuscripts.

Thoughts on a Pamphlet
By HUBERT FOSS
frequently hurled on certain otherwise unexplain-
THE first half of our century has pot sufficed
to blow away the misty Victorian idea-- able composers (C6sar Franck, for example); on
direct descendant of the Industrial Revolu- the conductors of some of our recurrent provincial
tion-that magnitude is an essential concomitant festivals; sometimes even on the foundations of
of importance: nor (which is sadder to remember) our present English renaissance in composing.
to create recognition that virtue may especially What is forgotten is that the organist is not church
reside in the small and humble. The little things music, and ought never to have been allowed, in
of quality and beauty pass too easily through darker our days, to become synonymous with, or the
coarse sieves, which stop the more inflated articles. ruler of, church music. The great tradition of
During the year 1951 there slipped out of the English church music placed little reliance upon
rollers of a printing machine, unheralded, almost the organ; and so long as that purely choral tradi-
unnoticed, a small book of worth far greater than tion remained powerful, though it ceased to be
its size. ' Music in Church ', a report of a com- all-conquering, the organ was a welcome and useful
mittee appointed in 1948 by the Archbishopsadjunct. of
Canterbury and York, was issued at the price of If the Victorian tradition of church music per-
5s. by the Church Information Board at Church sists up to this very day, half a century too late,
House, Westminster, S.W.1. The Musical Times it is our own fault, our own innate conservatism,
properly reviewed the booklet in the appropriate especially in church worship, which demands 'the
section, the pages of which are devoted to matters old tunes', a term which almost invariably means
of church music and read only by its practitioners. the tunes that are not of ripe old age but merely
The title 'Music in Church' ought to do much were familiar in our or our parents' childhoods.
to suggest a content not exclusive or specialized; There have been remarkable changes in style and
that the breadth and simplicity of its three words quality of church music during the last fifty years;
in that significant order have appealed to the wide the Church Music Society, the movements asso-
musical public is, one fears, beyond hope. For ciated with (as random names) Bridges, Dearmer,
myself, reading and re-reading these pages, I the two Shaws, Fellowes, Bairstow, Nicholson,
found far more than special advice on one branch Arnold, and others, have borne their excellent
of music's activities; the advice given thereon is fruit though in too sparse a crop.
indeed admirable. It was the general interest of The Victorian tradition was indeed a gripping,
the book that struck me, setting my thoughts wan- wasting disease for the musical body to outlive
dering over wide tracts of the musical world. and throw off. In his book 'Church Music'
Much as one hopes that all organists and choir- (Longmans, 1926) Hadow wrote: ' There has
masters, bishops, vicars, and curates, choristers probably been no form of any art in the history of
and churchwardens, and even members of congre- the world which has been so over-run by the
gations, will read and learn from its wisdom, one unqualified amateur as English Church music
hopes even more that musicians of all kinds will from about 1860 to about 1900. Many of our
study it and find therein matter for thought about professional musicians at this time stood also at
our general music-making today and its appre- a low level of culture and intelligence and were
ciation. quite content to flow with the stream, so that our
In some degree, church music has been the Service books, and still more our Hymn books,
Cinderella of the musical family for a long time. were filled with dilutions of Mendelssohn, reminis-
Two things have in particular increased her out- cences of Spohr, and, worse than either, direct
ward lowliness of status-the Victorian tradition, imitations of Gounod: as incongruous with the
and the popularization of music with orchestra (in splendour of our Authorized Version and of our
one form or another) through gramophone and Book of Common Prayer as were some of the
radio. ' The taint of the organ loft ' is an aspersion stained glass windows of that period with the

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