Old Hall Manuscript

The Old Hall Manuscript

Hilliard Ensemble - Paul Hillier
Virgin Edition 61393

Contents:

Queldryk: Gloria (a 4)

Pia mater (a 3)

Nesciens mater (chant)

Bittering: Nesciens mater (a 3)

Damett: Beata Dei genitrix (a 3)

Pycard: Gloria (a 4)

Power: Credo (a 3)

Bittering: En Katerine solennia (a 3)

Pennard: Credo (a 4)

Beata progenies (chant)

Power: Beata progenies (a 3)

Sanctus (a 3)

Ave regina (chant)

Cooke: Ave regina (a 3)

Power: Sanctus (a 3)

Agnus Dei (a 3)

Forest: Qualis est dilectus (a 3)

Oliver: Agnus Dei (a 3)

Alma redemptoris mater (chant)

Forest: Ascendit Christus (a 3)

Agnus Dei (a 4)

Mayshuet: Are post libamina (a 4)

Cooke: Stella celi (a 3)

Damett: Salve porta paradisi (a 3)

Post missarum solennia (a 4)

Performers: David James, Ashley Stafford, Rogers Covey-Crump, John Potter,
Mark Padmore, Paul Hillier, Gordon Jones

Playing time: 65'

Recording date: September 1990

Previously issued as EMI Reflexe 54111

Excerpts:
[3]-[4] Virgin Classics 0946
356902 2 4 [CD] Music from the time of the Crusades (1096 - 1270).

The Old Hall Manuscript is the earliest surviving English manuscript which
includes substantial composer attributions. It dates from the beginning of the
15th century, and shows the English contribution to the late Ars Nova, as well
as some smoother harmonies which foreshadow the future. As apparent above, the
manuscript consists entirely of sacred music.

This is an all-male vocal recording, the numbers in parentheses above give
the number of parts (always sung one-to-a-part). Those pieces without
attributions are anonymous. This disc presents a nice selection of pieces from
the manuscript, and contains a lot of music. It is not the sort of album which
one would generally listen to at a single sitting, and indeed the variety in the
different settings might be difficult to perceive on first acquaintance.

A recording from a Czech manuscript, with a large number of medieval-style
motets:

Codex Speciálník

Hilliard Ensemble
ECM New Series
1504

A recording of similar scope, this time from a unique Swiss manuscript:

Codex Engelberg 314

Music of the Late Middle Ages
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis - Dominique
Vellard / Wulf Arlt
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi
77185

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Todd M. McComb