Music for Chanukah

An Early Music Monday post for my friends celebrating Chanukah! Renaissance sacred music includes more than just Christian liturgies. Salamone Rossi was a celebrated composer and court musician, and also a devout Jew. This article is from a few years ago (so the performance info is out of date), but the synopsis about Rossi is excellent!

A Renaissance Composer, Actively Jewish When That Wasn’t Easy

Eton Choirbook

I’m in NYC this week for an Eton Choirbook project with Vox Vocal Ensemble. Want to know more about the Eton Choirbook? Early Music Monday (with the help of Wikipedia) is here for you!

The Eton Choirbook (Eton College MS. 178) is a richly illuminated manuscript collection of English sacred music composed during the late 15th century. It was one of very few collections of Latin liturgical music to survive the Reformation, and hence is an important source. It originally contained music by 24 different composers; however, many of the pieces are damaged or incomplete. It is one of three large choirbooks surviving from early-Tudor England (the others are the Lambeth Choirbook and the Caius Choirbook).

The Choirbook was compiled between approximately 1500 and 1505 for use at Eton College; its present binding dates from the mid 16th century. 126 folios remain of the original 224, including the index. In the original, there were a total of 93 separate compositions; however only 64 remain either complete or in part. Some of the 24 composers are known only because of their inclusion in the Eton Choirbook. John Browne has the most compositions (10), followed by Richard Davy (9) and Walter Lambe (8).

The Eton Choirbook (Eton College MS. 178) is a richly illuminated manuscript collection of English sacred music composed during the late 15th century. It was one of very few collections of Latin liturgical music to survive the Reformation, and hence is an important source.