The Flower Of All Virginity: Eton Choirbook Volume IV
5/24/2005, 7 Tracks, 1:02:50
Featuring
Harry Christophers
The Sixteen
Hugh Kellyk
Anonymous
John Nesbett
Robert Fayrfax
John Browne
Did you know?
1/7
Interpretation
The original choristers at Eton College had to sing this complex music while crowding around a lectern, straining to read by candlelight.
Composition History
The Eton Choirbook originally contained more than forty different Marian antiphons, but damage to the book has resulted in the loss of more than half of them.
Compositional Technique
The carols on this album, by Browne and Sheryngham, are similar in style to the antiphons but more intimate, and their structure of alternating refrain and verses originates from the medieval round-dance called the carole.
Compositional Technique
In works like Kellyk's Gaude flore virginali and John Browne's O Maria Salvatoris mater, composers used superabundance of melody, intricate texture, rich sonority, and buoyant rhythms to express the joy of the text.
Historical Context
Eton College, where this music was performed, was founded by Henry VI and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, hence its original name 'the College Roiall of Our Ladie of Eton beside Windesor'.
Historical Context
The Eton Choirbook, a major source of music for this album, is one of the few choirbooks to survive the Reformation.
Compositional Technique
The Eton Choirbook contains music that is described as majestic, extravagant, and virtuosic, requiring highly talented choristers to perform.
