Egerton MS 3307

WINDSOR CAROL-BOOK, in Latin, French and English, with polyphonic music, written probably for St George's Chapel, Windsor, between 1430 and 1444. See Brit. Mus. Quart., xv, 1952, pp. 33-34; G. S. McPeek, The British Museum Manuscript Egerton 3307, 1963 (where the liturgical music, drinking song and motet are published); J. Stevens, Mediaeval Carols, Musica Britannica, iv, 1952 (where the carols are published); also B. Schofield and M. F. Bukofzer, 'A Newly Discovered Fifteenth-Century Manuscript of the English Chapel Royal', Musical Quarterly, xxxii, 1946, pp. 509-536 and xxxiii, 1947, pp. 38-51 (where the Mass and St Luke's Passion are published); Bukofzer, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music, 1951, pp. 113-175; R. L. Greene, 'Two Medieval Musical Manuscripts: Egerton 3307 and Some University of Chicago Fragments', Journal of the American Musicological Society, vii, 1954, pp. 1-34; New Oxford History of Music, iii, ed. A. Hughes and G. Abraham, 1960, pp. 181-184, pl. 11. Contents:-

(1) Liturgical music for Holy Week and Eastertide. All the settings, except for art. h (ii) and (iii), are based on plainsong, and, with one exception (in art. g), are for soloist parts, chorus (plainsong) parts being frequently, omitted. Viz.:-(a) Music for the Palm Sundayprocession, viz.:-(i) The hymn 'Gloria, laus et honor' for three voices, in cantus collateralis. Imperf., lacks cantus part at beginning. ff. 6-7;-(ii) The hymn 'En rex uenit mansuetus', for three voices. ff. 8-iob;-(iii) Another setting of 'Gloria, laus et honor', for three voices. ff. 10b-13;-(iv) The verse 'Unus autem ex ipsis', for three voices, from the respond 'Collegerunt pontifices'. ff. 13-14b. ff. 6-14b;-

(b) Three-voice setting of the title and 'turba' portions of St Matthew's Passion. Imperf. at end. ff. 15-16b;-(c) Three-voice setting ofthe Ordinary of the Mass, but with the bass sometimes divided into two parts, of which one is written with red notes (cf. Bukofzer, Studies, op. cit., pp. 133-134). Kyrie beg. imperf. Gloria and Creed omitted, which, together with the form of the cantofermo and the placing of the Massinthe MS., suggests that the setting was for ferias in Holy Week (see New Oxford History of Music, vol. cit., p. 181). ff. 17-19;-(d) Three-voice setting of the title and 'turba' portions of St Luke's Passion. Artt. (c) and (d) are the earliest extant examples of polyphonic settings of the Passion. ff. 20-24b;-(e) The hymn '0 redemptor sume carmen', from the Blessing of Oils on Maundy Thursday, set partly for two, three and four voices. ff. 25-28b;-(f) Music for the Easter Vigil, viz.;-(i) The hymn 'Inuentor rutili', for three voices. Another version is Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys MS. 1236, ff. 62 b-63 (see New Oxford History of Music, vol. cit., p. 182). ff. 29-33;-(ii) The metrical litany 'Rex sanctorum angelorum', for three voices. ff. 33-36;-(iii) Two-voice setting of the Alleluia 'Confitemini domino'. ff. 36b-37. ff. 29-37;-(g) Threevoice setting of the processional hymn 'Salue festa dies', with the appropriate texts for the feasts of Easter, the Ascension, Pentecost, Corpus Christi and St George. The only other known source for the last text is Oxford, Bodl. Lib., MS. lat. lit. e. 7, a Sarum Processional written for a London church (see McPeek, op. cit., p. 74). The present item provides two polyphonic settings for the first lines of each stanza, the second being probably intended for the chorus (see McPeek, op. cit., p. 17). ff. 37b-42:-(h) Music probably for Easter processions (cf. the Sarum Processional, ed. W. G. Henderson, Leeds, 1882, pp. 91-95), Viz.:-(i) Three-voice setting of the verse 'Crucifixum in carne', from the antiphon 'Sedit angelus'. ff. 42b-43b;-(ii) two-voice setting of the Alleluia 'Laudate pueri dominum'. ff. 43b-4.4;-(iii) threevoice setting of the verse 'Dicant nunc iudei', from the respond 'Christus resurgens'. ff. 44b-45b;-(iv) Two-voice setting of the Alleluia 'Salue uirgo mater dei'. The setting is also in Oxford, Magdalen College, MS. B. II. 3. 16, fragment c, f. 89. ff. 46-47;-(v) Three-voice setting of the incipit and verse 'Media nocte clamor' of the respond 'Audiui uocem de celo uenientem'. ff. 47b-48;-(vi) two-voice setting of the same parts of the same piece. f. 48b. ff. 42b-48b.

(2) Thirty-three carols, together with a drinking song and a motet, for two voices (except where otherwise stated), and sometimes with a second, threevoice chorus. Twenty carols are in Latin, five in English, four have Latin burdens and English stanzas, two are macaronic (one being in Latin and English, the other in Latin, English and French), one has a mixed Latin and English burden and one has no text. Only eight cases of musical concordance have been found, six being in Oxford, Bodl. Lib., MS. Arch. Selden B. 26 (published in John Stainer, Sacred and Secular Songs: Early Bodleian Music, ii, 1901). The whole collection appears to have been for use in Christmastide. Viz.:-(a) Burden 'Tibi laus tibi gloria', verse 'Gloria tibi domine qui natus est de uirgine'. f. 49;-(b) Burden 'Princeps pacis strenus', verse 'Amores amplifica maiestas mirifca', with three-voice chorus. ff. 49b-50;-(c) Burden 'Dauid ex progenie', verse 'Dauid ex progenie'. The setting is also in MS. Arch. Selden B. 26. ff. 24b-25 (see John Stainer, op. cit., i, pls. lxxx, lxxxi; ii, p. 148). ff. 50b-51:-(d) Macaronic carol: burden 'Nouo profusi gaudio', verse 'Omnes gentes plaudite'. f. 51 b;-(e) Burden 'Nouus sol de uirgine', verse 'The holy doghter of syon'. For the text cf. Greene, The Early English Carols, Oxford, 1935, no. 190. The setting is also in MS. Arch. Selden B. 26, f. 25b (see John Stainer, op. cit., i, pl. lxxxii; ii, p. 151). f. 53;-(f) Burden 'Sol occasum nesciens', verse 'Cum culpe remedium', with three-voice chorus. ff. 53b-54;-(g) Carol for St Stephen: burden 'The holy martir steven', verse 'I schal yow tell'. For comparative sources of the text see Greene, Early English Carols, no. 101 A, B. f. 54b;-(h) Burden 'Qui natus est de uirgine', verse 'Fader & son and holy gost', with three-voice chorus. The first verse of the text is also in Oxford, Bodl. Lib., MS. Ashmole 189, f. 105 (cf. Carleton Brown, Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, Oxford, 1939, p. 85). f. 55;-

(i) Burden 'Aue rex angelorum', verse 'Hayl most myghty', with chorus, the whole carol being for three voices. ff. 55b-57;-(j) Burden 'Cum uirtus magnifica', verse 'cum uirtus magnifica', with three-voice chorus. ff. 57b- 58;(k) Burden (macaronic) 'Illuminare Jherusalem', verse 'Hys signe ys a ster bryth', with three-voice chorus. ff. 58b-59;-(1) Burden 'Ivy ys good & glad to se', verse 'Ivy is both fair and gren', with three-voice chorus (concerning the interpretation of the phrase 'at hye' in the last stanza see Greene, 'Two Medieval Musical Manuscripts', pp. 24-25.) ff. 59b-60;-(m) Political carol, including references possibly to the Wars of Roses: burden 'Anglia tibi turbidas', verse 'Iurandi iam nequicia', with three-voice chorus. ff. 60b- 61;-(n) Burden 'Benedicite deo domino', verse 'Angeli et ethera', the fourth verse refers to 'Anglia & francia cunctaque imperia'. f. 61b;-(o) Carol for St John Ev.: burden 'Iohannes ihesu care', verse 'Supra pectus domini'. f. 62;-(p) Carol for St Thomas Becket: burden 'Seynt thomas honour we', verse 'Al holy chyrch was bot', with three-voice chorus. ff. 62b-63;-

(q) Carol for St George, including a reference to the Battle of Agincourt: burden 'Enfors we vs with alle our myght', verse 'Worschip of vertu ys mede'. f. 63 b;-(r) Political carol including a reference to divine aid given to Henry V in battle: burden 'Exultauit cor in domino', verse 'Pro diuino auxilio'. f. 64;-(s) Carol addressed apparently to the king: burden 'Princeps serenissime', verse 'Anni donum domine'. f. 64b;-(t) Burden 'Ecce quod natura mutat', verse 'Ecce nouum gaudium'. The setting is also in MS. Arch. Selden B. 26, f. 27 (see John Stainer, op. cit., i, pl. lxxv; ii, p. 154). Another version, with considerable variants, is in Bodl. Lib., MS. Ashmole 1393, f. 69 (ibid., i, pl. xxvii; ii, p. 63). f. 65;-(u) Macaronic carol: burden 'Almyghty ihesu kynge of blysse', verse 'Holy chyrch of hym maketh mynd', with threevoice chorus. For comparative sources of the text see Greene, Early English Carols, no. 23 A, B. ff. 65b-66;-(v) Burden 'I pray yow all', verse 'Holy wret sep'. For comparative sources of the text see ibid., no. 337. The setting is also in MS. Arch. Selden B. 26, f. 5, with the initials 'I.D.' at end of text, concerning the identification of which with Dunstable cf.New Oxford History of Music, vol. cit., p. 124 (see John Stainer, op. cit., i, pi. xli; ii, p. 87). f. 66 b;-

(w) Burden 'Aue plena gracia', verse 'Hayle be pu mary'. f. 67;-(x) Burden 'Uerbum patris hodie', verse 'Salue festa dies', with three-voice chorus. f. 67b;-(y) Burden 'Illuxit leticia', verse 'Fulsit stella preuia'. f. 68;-(z) Verse 'Omnes una gaudeamus', refrain 'Qui natus es de uirgine' (cf. Bukofzer, Studies, p. 152). The setting is also in MS. Arch. Selden B. 26, f. 11 (see John Stainer, op. cit., i, pl. liii; ii, p. 111). f. 68b;-(aa) Burden 'Alleluya pro uirgine maria', verse 'Diua natalicia nostra'. The setting is also in MS. Arch. Selden B. 26, f. 16 (see John Stainer, Op. Cit., i, pl. lxiii; ii, p. 127). f. 69;-(bb) Carol for the Holy Innocents: burden 'Omnis caterua fidelium', verse 'Princeps mundi nasci', with three-voice chorus. ff. 69b-70;)- (cc) Burden 'Comedentes conuenite', verse 'Cibis aluos enutrite', with threevoice chorus. ff. 70b-71;-(dd) Burden 'Gaudeamus pariter', verse'Nouum mirum oritur', with three-voice chorus. f. 71b;-(ee) Burden 'Parit uirgo filium', verse 'Sicut sponsus de thalamo', with three-voice chorus. A different setting is in Add. MS. 5666, f. 5b; for the text cf. also Cambridge, Trinity College, MS. 0. 9. 38, f. 69. f. 72;-(ff) Drinking song '0 potores exquisiti', for three voices, in cantus collateralis, with a separate setting for each strophe. The first known musical setting of an old Goliardic poem which occurs in the 'Carmina Burana', Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibl., Cod. lat. 4660, first third '3th cent. (see J. A. Schmeller, Carmina Burana, Breslau, 1883, p. 240, and A. Hilka and 0. Schumann, Carmina Burana, i, Heidelberg, 1930, p. x). ff. 72b-75;-(gg) Motet 'Cantemus domino socie-Christi personet ore- Gaudent in celis', for four voices, in cantus collateralis (music erased at beginning of tenor). Greene's view ('Two Medieval Musical Manuscripts', pp. 10- 12) that the piece is in honour of St Dunstan seems untenable. ff. 75b-77;-

(hh) Carol (without words), with three-voice chorus (cf. Bukofzer, Studies, op. cit., p. 116). ff. 77 b-78;-(ii) Burden 'Lauda saluatorem ducem', chorus 'Puer natus hodie', for three voices. Mostly erased and imperf. at end. f. 79. Vellum; ff. ii + 88. 290 mm. x 210 mm. Written probably for St George's Chapel, Windsor, between 1430 and 1444. For the arguments that the MS. was written for the Cistercian abbey of Meaux, E.R., co. York., see Bukofzer, Studies, and Greene, 'Two Medieval Music Manuscripts' opp. citt. Gatherings of 8 leaves (i lacks 1-5), except for ii⁶, iii², viii¹⁰ (lacks 4 and 8), xii⁶ (lacks 3). Five hands in text, viz.:-(i) ff. 6-7;-(2) ff. 8-14b, 17-19, 25-48b;-

(3) ff. 15, 16b, 20-24b;-(4) ff. 49-77;-(5) f. 79; three in music, viz.:-

(i) ff. 6-7;-(ii) ff. 8-77;-(iii) ff. 77b-79. The compositions are anonymous. Mensural notation in black, black void, red and red void notes on a stave of five red lines. In score, unless otherwise stated above. Two historiated initials with drinking scenes (ff. 72b, 73); two illuminated initials (ff. 37b, 49); throughout other initials with pen-work decoration in red, blue and black (cf. the initials in the 'Old Hall MS.', St Edmund's College, Ware, edited by A. Ramsbotham, H. B. Collins and A. Hughes, Plainsong and Medieval Music Society, 1933-1938). On ff. 15 and 20 a cross fleury gules (probably without heraldic significance) and a scroll bearing a motto, in the latter case 'Mieulx en de cy', in the former, possibly 'De cy en mieulx' (mostly erased). Was received in the Museum in a 19th cent. green cardboard binding (now laid down as ff. i, ii in the volume), the front cover (f. 1) bearing a roundel containing a cluster of grapes with a band to the right-hand edge, the back cover (f. ii) a monogram 'JTJ' (? Jean Joseph Jacques Tissot, the artist, d. 1902, cf. F. Lugt, Les Marques de Collections de dessins et d'estampes, Amsterdam, 1921, p. 282, no. 1545). Belonged subsequently to Bernard Wilson, Esq., of Hampstead, London.