Bringing the notes together

Robert Fayrfax (1464–1521)
Missa O bone Jesu
England, ca 1525-30

This partbook, a choral manuscript containing the music for one of a group of singers (in this case the Countertenor) was copied around 1525–30 and includes masses, motets and other choral works by some of the most renowned early English composers including John Taverner, Richard Davy and Robert Fayrfax. The volume and its Bass counterpart at St John’s College (the others are lost) are part of the Tudor Partbooks Project, which reconstructs this glorious music from whichever manuscripts survive; a complex but highly worthwhile undertaking.

This volume has been digitised in full: to view this, click ‘Open Digital Library’.

MS Dd.13.27, ff. 20v–21r (Royal Library)

The Tudor Partbooks Project is a collaborative project between members of the Universities of Oxford and Newcastle. Amongst their aims are the digital restoration of the Sadler partbooks, the reconstruction of the missing Tenor part from the Baldwin partbooks, and reaching a greater understanding of Tudor singing practices. They hold several workshops and study days each term, and full details of these and of the wider project can be seen by following the link below.

Tudor Partbooks Project website

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