Adieu m'amour: Music from the time of Agincourt (Amici Voices) CD booklet by Amici Voices

Adieu mâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;amour Music from the time of Agincourt

Amici Voices Terence Charlston

Adieu m’amour: Music from the time of Agincourt 1. Gloria from Messe de Notre Dame (Guillaume de Machaut, c.1300–1377) 2. De spineto nata rosa (Anon., early 14th century) 3. Retrové (Anon., 1320)† 4. Sanctus from Missa Alma redemptoris mater (Leonel Power, died 1445) 5. Adieu m’amour (Guillaume Dufay, 1397–1474) 6. Felix Namque (Anon., c.1400–50)† 7. Asperges me (Plainchant, Sarum Rite) 8. Veni Sancte Spiritus ( John Dunstable, c.1390–1453) 9. Improvisation in the style of Adam Ileborgh (1448) and Mit ganzen Willen (Anon.)† 10. Agincourt Carol (Anon., early 15th century) 11. Kyrie from Missa L’homme armé ( Johannes Ockeghem, c.1410–1497) 12. Ave Maria mater Dei (William Cornysh, died c.1502) 13. O rosa bella ( John Dunstable, arr. Buxheim Orgelbuch, 1450–70)† 14. Sanctus (Roy Henry) 15. Regina caeli I (Antoine Busnois, c.1430–1492) Amici Voices Helen Charlston Mezzo-soprano Hiroshi Amako, Stefan Kennedy Tenors Michael Craddock Bass † Terence Charlston Upright Harpsichord 2

Programme Notes The Vocal Music The Battle of Agincourt, fought on 25 October 1415, has long been mythologised in the United Kingdom, though the grim reality of the campaign was far removed from Shakespeare’s later immortalisation of the “happy few”. The encounter took place as part of the ‘Hundred Years’ War’ between England and France, though in fact in 1415 the two kingdoms had been at peace for 26 years, as England struggled with numerous internal revolts and France struggled with the nascent psychosis of King Charles VI. However, upon ascending to the throne in 1414, King Henry V of England wished to continue the conflict and invaded France in 1415 after raising funds and obtaining the agreement of his ministers. His campaign was, in reality, a shambles: Harfleur, the first town besieged, resisted for far longer than expected, in which time the English army was ravaged by the ‘bloody flux’ (dysentery). Winter was approaching, but rather than return to England with only one town captured, Henry marched towards Calais as a show of strength; he was intercepted en route by a far superior French force. Battle was joined at Agincourt, around 40 miles from Calais, where the English were able to overcome the French largely because they had placed themselves between two dense forests, which left the French cavalry unable to outflank the famed English longbowmen. Harfleur remained English for ten years, but the campaign’s gains were surprisingly minimal: Henry was even forced to murder most of the French nobility he had taken for ransom, as they outnumbered the surviving English army. Yet very quickly the battle of Agincourt became a key part of the English cultural landscape. This was due in part to a great pageant that was held in London on 23 November 1415 to celebrate Henry’s return; eight contemporary sources detail the event and all mention singing of some kind, including in the vernacular. There remains the intriguing possibility that an early form of the anonymous Agincourt Carol (track 10) dates from this event. 3

The carol consists of strophes (verses), each followed by a repeating burden (chorus), in a manner common to compositions of the time. The poetry is certainly of a high quality: the ‘Deo Gratias’ refrain is incorporated into the text both as the quoted cry of the victors (verses 1 and 5) and as a more abstract comment on events (verses 2 - 4). Helen Deeming makes a case for the carol being highly culturally significant within the literary fabric of early 15th-century England, arguing that phrases from the carol reoccur in two contemporary extended poems about the battle, which would suggest that the work had a broad dissemination. Nevertheless, the piece is found today in just two sources, the most notable being the Trinity Carol Roll of Trinity College, Cambridge. These carol rolls rarely survived because they were not bound, but those that do provide a fascinating insight into the contemporary musical landscape. The Berkeley Carol Roll for example, from which De spineto nata rosa (2) is taken, was only discovered in the 1980s, but was likely compiled in the 1320s or 1330s. De spineto nata rosa is the simplest of the four pieces found in the collection, with parallel triads and block chordal writing in the ‘cantilena’ style. Of equal interest to the Agincourt Carol is a work possibly composed by one of the battle’s participants: the Sanctus (14) of Roy Henry (from Roi Henri, ‘Henry the King’). Musical endeavour was surprisingly common among England’s monarchy and was seen as a vital ingredient of manly skill, along with (the perhaps more obvious) hunting, falconry and warfare. This piece survives in a great collection of 148 works called the Old Hall Manuscript, compiled in the first twenty years of the 15th century. It is unclear however to which King Henry ‘Henry Roy’ refers; we have little evidence to go on other than that present in the music itself. The style is archaic (the chordal writing is more reminiscent of De spineto nato rosa than of 15th-century works), but references to both Henry IV and Henry V’s musicality abound: the pieces were likely composed by either a mature Henry IV or a young Henry V, and almost certainly before the events of Agincourt. An interesting comparison to Henry’s style is the Gloria from Guillaume de Machaut’s Messe de Notre Dame (1), composed around 1360. The Messe is the first mass known 4

Agincourt Carol (Anon.). Facsimile of the Trinity Carol Roll (MS O.3.58), a parchment scroll over six feet long and the earliest source for English polyphonic carols. Dating from the early 15th century in East Anglia, the roll contains words and musical notation on a five line stave for thirteen carols in Middle English and Latin. By kind permission of Master and Fellows of Trinity College Cambridge.

to be written by a single composer, and the first to be thematically unified between its contingent movements by the use of devotional chants to the Virgin Mary. Even in this single movement, one can hear interplay between the chordal, isorhythmic and florid musical textures that would dominate musical development over the 14th and 15th centuries. The Old Hall Manuscript is enormously important, as it “presents for the first time an English repertory largely tied to named composers” (Margaret Bent). This is turn confirms the existence of a developed but distinct English style, separate from but in communication with styles on the continent. All of the composers featured on this recording were part of that cultural communion. Leonel Power was a member of the chapel of Henry V’s brother Thomas, Duke of Clarence; his Sanctus (4) is in a far more complex style than that of Roy Henry. Like so much of the religious vocal music on this recording, and the keyboard piece Felix namque (6), it is based on a plainchant melody. The plainchant heard in tracks 7 and 11 is taken from the Sarum rite, the musical liturgy of Salisbury cathedral from medieval times until the Reformation. This music was widely adopted in English during the later Middle Ages and was published many times from 1487 onwards. Power’s contemporary John Dunstable was the man most emblematic of AngloFrench cultural exchange. A prodigious composer and public intellectual, he owned property in both England and France, and is named in several works of late 15thcentury European literature as having founded a “new art of music” (those words from Johannes Tinctoris, the Flemish music theorist). Tinctoris was likely referring to Dunstable’s espousal and development of a new fully triadic conception of harmony; his music sees a marked increase in intervals of a third and a sixth being used harmonically. These are the ‘consonant’ intervals which form the basis of all tonal music thereafter and can be clearly heard in his Veni Sancte Spiritus (8).

and Italy. His Adieu m’amour (5) is described by poet Donato Mancini as “almost fragile in its lightness.” This heartfelt song of farewell embodies the twin themes which might be said to encapsulate the human reality of war: separation and loss. Dufay set the stage for the composers of the late 1400s, represented on this recording by William Cornysh, Antoine Busnois and Johannes Ockeghem. One can hear how Cornysh’s Ave Maria (12) and Busnois’ Regina Caeli I (15) are increasingly rhythmically emancipated when comparing them with the more fixed isorhythms of a century earlier. The Kyrie of Johannes Ockeghem (11) is of a more supplicatory nature, despite being based on a popular song of the period, L’homme armé. Cornysh, Busnois and Ockeghem were among the first composers of the ‘Renaissance’ period; indeed, Cornysh died in 1502, just three years before the birth of Thomas Tallis, with whose music we are perhaps more familiar today. Cornysh was born in England, Busnois in modern-day France, and Ockeghem and Dufay in modern-day Belgium, yet their commonality of musical influence points to a wider cultural trend. The Battle of Agincourt was, of course, an important military conflict, but it is also emblematic of the broader political, familial and cultural cross-pollination between England, France and the rest of Europe. As the English and French fought and died together across the two centuries, they were also witnesses to a great deal of artistic exchange and development. Following the 600th anniversary year of the battle, we commemorate the musical riches of a period which divided two kingdoms in conflict, yet interwove them in a shared cultural fabric.

The musical landscape of the first half of the 1400s was dominated by Dunstable and Guillaume Dufay, another travelling intellectual whose career criss-crossed France 6

The Keyboard Music and the Instrument Our programme interleaves the vocal items with instrumental music from the time of Agincourt played on a copy of the earliest surviving stringed keyboard instrument in the world — the upright harpsichord or clavicytherium c.1480 belonging to the Royal College of Music Museum in London.

which was probably a religious scene, perhaps a Calvary. A full description and illustration of the original can be viewed online in the RCM Museum of Instruments Catalogue Part II: Keyboard Instruments. The copy used in this recording was made in the Adlam Burnett workshop in Goudhurst in 1973.

Very little medieval keyboard music survives, yet, by the time of the battle, keyboard instruments were well established. Apart from their musical potential, they symbolised a recent confluence of musical sophistication and emergent technology: the excitement of the new. To quote Howard Mayer Brown, “the invention of keyboards and their gradual refinement constitute one of the greatest technological developments of instrument building of Western Europe in the Middle Ages”. Although primarily secular in function, stringed keyboard instruments were commonly depicted in art held by angels and saints. During the fourteenth century the incorporation of the keyboard into stringed instruments lead to the development of the clavichord, virginal and eventually the harpsichord. Keyboards were also fitted to the hurdy-gurdy (organistrum) and the mysterious dulce melos which had several actions, including a piano-like system of hammers. The oldest type of keyboard instrument, however, is undoubtedly the organ, which goes back to antiquity. By the end of the fourteenth century, large, stationary organs, usually with one keyboard, became common in churches, and several famous examples survive today. The Royal College of Music upright harpsichord or clavicytherium is thought to be of South German origin, possibly built in Ulm around 1480. This small instrument (it is only 1.4 meters high) is in effect a keyed psaltery. It has one string per note and a complicated jack and key action which transfers the downward movement of the player’s finger through two right angles before the plectrum plucks the vertical string directly in front of the player. It has no dampers so the string rings on after being plucked producing a sound similar to an un-damped harp or psaltery. The original is finely decorated and includes an elaborate landscape in relief below the soundboard 8

Terence Charlston recording the Upright harpsichord

The first two anonymous keyboard items (tracks 3 and 6) are a piece called Retrové (thought to be an estampie, a troubadour dance in the form of a rondeau) and a plainsong cantus firmus setting, Felix namque. These survive quite by chance on small fragments reused in the binding of larger documents. The Retrové (3) survives in the earliest known keyboard source: a two-leaf scrap pasted into the Robertsbridge Codex, a chronicle of the Cistercian Abbey at Robertsbridge from about 1320 (GB-Lbl Add. MS 28550, fol. 43-43v.) The music is possibly French but copied by an English scribe, and also includes two other estampies and three motet arrangements. The Retrové is in two parts, one for each hand, which proceed mainly in parallel fifths. As the composition develops, the two hands are deliberately staggered from each other using a dovetailing of notes and rests whereby each voice sounds alone. This technique, termed hocket, was also a common feature of medieval vocal music and is here used to achieve contrast between the verses and refrains of the rondeau structure. The Felix namque (6) is written on one of four leaves of polyphonic music, in English, French, and Latin dating from the first half of the fifteenth century (GB-Ob Douce MS 381, fol. 23r.) It may have been written down as a model of extempore organ playing, perhaps for use in teaching, with the plainsong cantus firmus, the Felix namque melody, presented in the left hand and accompanied by a single line of countrapuntal ornament in the right. The most common pattern of organ performance in church at this time was the ‘organ mass’, the liturgical alternation of sung chant and short, improvised organ interludes. The organist was expected to weave a keyboard texture using the plainsong melodies in a manner called discant, of which this surviving Felix namque is a very good example. The last two items (9 and 13) come from dedicated books of keyboard music. The tablature of the German organist and composer, Adam Ileborgh, dated 1448 (now held in a private collection in Paris) is both a source of pieces and an important treatise on organ playing which, for example, mentions the use of pedals (a keyboard for the feet to operate). I have adapted one of Ileborgh’s preludes as a short improvisation to introduce an original keyboard transcription called Mit ganzen Willen (9). This song 10

or dance-tune, and the arrangement of Dunstable’s famous song O rosa bella (13), come from two, large and sumptuous codeces — the so-called ‘Lochamer Liederbuch’ (D-B Mus.ms. 40613) and the more famous Buxheim Organ Book (D-Mbs Mus.3725) both of which contain a diverse and international repertoire associated with the blind Nuremberg organist, Conrad Paumann (c.1410–73) and his pupils and imitators. Famous, and widely travelled, Paumann’s personality dominates keyboard performance at this time. This arrangement of Dunstable’s O rosa bella comes from the earlier part of the Buxheim book (1450s). It is a masterful essay in 3-part counterpoint. Each contrapuntal line garners Dunstable’s original with subtle imitation and embellishment but without detracting from its essential simplicity and the vocal beauty. Tuning and temperament The upright harpsichord has been tuned to three different temperaments to reflect and convey the rapid development of harmony, composition and performance during the late Medieval period. The earliest pieces (3 and 6) cadence on open fifths and octaves and have been recorded in Pythagorean temperament which uses pure fifths. This system tunes eleven fifths pure leaving the twelfth fifth (between E-flat and G-sharp) too narrow for use (the ‘wolf’) and produces uncomfortably wide major thirds on the natural notes. These ‘harsh’ intervals (which are very noticeable to the modern ear) were therefore considered dissonances by medieval musicians, and if they were sounded at all, required immediate resolution onto pure, consonant fifths and fourths. For Mit ganzen Willen and its introductory improvisation (9) which represent a slightly later period, a modified form of Pythagorean temperament was chosen. This tuning was first recorded by Henri Arnaut de Zwolle in about 1440 and moves the ‘wolf’ fifth round the circle of fifths to a new position between B and F-sharp. This tuning sweetens the four major thirds above the notes D, E, A and B until they are almost pure and is well suited to the major third based harmony of the music of these particular pieces. Arnaut’s clever modification anticipates the next widely-adopted tuning method, the 11

regular mean-tone temperaments. These produce pure (or nearly pure) major thirds on all the natural notes by compromising the purity of the fifths (by narrowing them) and are better suited to triadic harmony and melody where thirds and sixths are heard continuously and must therefore be consonant. Quarter-comma mean-tone, the simplest and most practical version, can be heard in O rosa bella (13). The major thirds on the natural notes are now pure and while all the diatonic whole-tone steps are equal in size (hence mean-tone) the unequal semitone steps and the existence of genuine diminished fourths and sevenths heighten harmonic contrasts. These ‘meantone’ principles, especially the use of narrow major thirds and wide minor thirds, have been adopted by the singers in all the vocal music on this recording except for the earliest pieces.

Alice Chaucer, a widow of Agincourt The selection of music on this recording was originally devised for a concert in Ewelme church in Oxfordshire to commemorate the battle of Agincourt from the perspective of Alice Chaucer, one of the youngest widows of the battle. The village of Ewelme in Oxfordshire might seem an unlikely place to be connected to the Agincourt campaign but in the fifteenth century it was home to Thomas Chaucer, son of the poet and, by marriage, cousin to Henry V. Indeed Thomas Chaucer was a major figure in the government and was, in the course of his career, to be speaker of the House of Commons five times. Thomas’s aunt, Katherine Roet, having married a Swynford, had had a long affair with and then eventually married, John of Gaunt, Edward III’s third surviving son. In 1399 Gaunt’s eldest son usurped the crown as Henry IV thereby catapulting the Chaucers into the heart of the English court even though they were commoners; Thomas never even became a knight. He had one daughter, Alice, by Maud Burghersh, the heiress of Ewelme, and it was Alice who became the focus of any social ambitions Thomas may have had for the family. Born about 1404, Alice was married while under age, in 1414, to the knight Sir John Phelip, then in his late twenties and a close associate of Henry V. Both Thomas and the king made handsome provision for the couple. In 1415 both Phelip and Thomas Chaucer were involved in diplomacy with France and both men signed indentures to serve in the Agincourt campaign. Thomas fell ill and was unable to lead his men and Phelip, though he set off for France, contracted dysentery at the siege of Harfleur and died on 2 October, leaving Alice with a life interest in all his estates. Since daughters could marry from the age of 12 — and sons from the age of 14 — widowhood could come early for women. The common law allowed them one third of their deceased husband’s property as well as any land settled on the couple jointly at the time of their marriage. As Alice had a jointure in all of her husband’s lands, upon his death she received these along with the Chaucer property that had been part of the marriage settlement and was henceforth known as Lady Alice Phelip. Since Alice was no more

than eleven she returned to the care of her parents. Given the disparity in their ages and the brevity of their union, it is hard to imagine that Alice mourned her first husband and indeed though Phelip had left her a covered cup of gold, a gold basin and a quantity of furniture in 1415 she is far less prominent in his will than were Phelip’s previous wife, his step daughters and other members of the family. In fact

his new in-laws, Thomas and Maud Chaucer were more generously provided for than his child bride. In later life Alice can only have had the vaguest memories of him. She was surely the youngest of those women who were widowed on 25 October 1415. Alice’s subsequent marital history reinforced her links to the French wars. Sometime after 1421 she was remarried, in a union that raised her status to new heights, to Thomas Montague, earl of Salisbury but in 1428 Thomas was killed at Orleans by shrapnel from a stray cannon ball. Her third marriage was to Salisbury’s successor at the siege of Orleans, William de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, who had recently been ransomed following capture at Jargeau in the Loire Valley. William was eventually murdered in 1450, blamed by many for the loss of the French lands. Alice Chaucer lies in Ewelme Church, not next to any of her husbands, though Salisbury and Suffolk are remembered in the heraldry on her tomb, but in her own patrimonial home. Her tomb is one of the finest surviving late medieval funeral monuments, a statement in alabaster, rich sculptural adornment and colour of how plain Alice Chaucer had risen to the rank of duchess, survived the vicissitudes of the Hundred Years’ War and according to the inscription on her tomb died ‘a serene princess’.

The tomb of Alice Chaucer in the church of St Mary the Virgin, Ewelme, Oxfordshire. Photograph by the Revd Jonathan Meyer

Much Hadham and St Andrew’s Church The vocal music was recorded at St Andrew’s Church, Much Hadham. The village of Much Hadham is in East Hertfordshire, in the delightful countryside between Ware and Bishop’s Stortford. Pevsner notes that “The main street is long, of very high quality and beautifully maintained.” Nowadays, the most famous association is with Henry Moore, who lived in nearby Perry Green and whose grounds, sculptures and workshops can be visited. His only stained glass design is in St Andrew’s, as well as two carved heads. Historically, a most significant factor is the bequest of much of the village to the Bishops of London in around 990. They remain patrons of the successive Rectors. The Bishops created a handsome palace, on the site of which there is now a later building, sold for private accommodation in 1888. Owen Tudor and his wife, Katherine of Valois, the widow of Henry V, were sent into seclusion here at the palace for a while and it was during this time that Edmund of Hadham was born (later Earl of Richmond), the father of Henry VII. So there are important connections with the Tudor dynasty. St Andrew’s church was largely built between about 1225 and 1450, evolving and expanding from the Early English style, through the Decorated phase, to a final flowering in the Perpendicular style (1390–1450). Thus the progression of the architecture chronologically matches much of the music on this recording. Possibly the final piece of work from the Perpendicular period was the redesign of the main stretch of roofing to enable a clerestory to be made. This established the church’s distinctive acoustic — spacious and warm but also clear. It is good to think of this reaching up towards heaven around 1450 (also reflected in the vertical lines of the impressive East Window, from this period) as the time when several of the magnificent composers here recorded were at the height of their powers. Hearing this music in these surroundings is to be vividly returned to the fifteenth century. 16

Amici Voices recording in Much Hadham Church. Photograph by Ken Blair

Texts and Translations 1. Gloria from Messe de Notre Dame (Guillaume de Machaut) Gloria in excelsis Deo. Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Laudamus te. Benedicimus te. Adoramus te. Glorificamus te. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam. Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens. Domine Fili unigenite, Iesu Christe. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris. Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis. Quoniam tu solus Sanctus. Tu solus Dominus. Tu solus Altissimus, Iesu Christe. Cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris. Amen. Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will towards men. We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. For thou only art holy; thou only art the Lord; thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen. 2. De spineto nata rosa (Anon) De spineto nata rosa arbor vite preciosa ave plena gratia, Nos ad lucem vere lucis levans trahis et perducis ducens via regia. Specialis eminenter singularis excellenter emines virtutibus. Flos et lumen es sanctorum sed et ipsis angelorum premines ordinibus. Aaron virga tu fuisti, florem fructu protulisti stupendo miraculo. Deum paris illibata post et ante sigillata veri regis anulo. Ergo virgo tam beata multis signis 18

premonstrata sis nobis propicia. Aufer iras et langores, mentem munda, forma mores pietatis gratia. Pie matris pia proles, hic purgatos quando voles transfer nos ad supera. Pie matris pia prece, tu nos a secunda nece pie Ihesu libera. Rose born from a thorn bush, Precious tree of life, Hail to you, that are full of grace; You raise us up and draw us towards the light of true light; You escort us to our goal, leading us by the royal road. Outstanding above all creation, uniquely surpassing every other, You are supreme in all the virtues. You are the flower and light of the saints, but you even excel the very ranks of angels. You were the rod of Aaron, You brought forth foliage, flourishing by an astounding miracle. You gave birth to God while still unsullied, testified before and after by the true Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seal. Therefore, maiden so blessed, foretold by so many signs, may you be favourable to us. Take away our anger and weakness, cleanse our minds, and shape our natures, for the sake of your holiness. O holy child of a holy mother, When it is your will, take us, Who have been cleansed here, to the regions above. By the holy prayer of a holy mother, set us free, holy Jesus, from the second death. 4. Sanctus from Missa Alma redemptoris mater (Leonel Power) Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Osanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Osanna in excelsis. Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

5. Adieu m’amour (Guillaume Dufay) Adieu m’amour, adieu ma joye, Adieu le solas que j’avoye, Adieu ma leale mastresse! Le dire adieu tant fort me blesse, Qu’il me semble que morir doye. De desplaisir forment lermoye. Il n’est reconfort que je voye, quant vous esloigne, ma princesse. Adieu m’amour, adieu ma joye, Adieu le solas que j’avoye, Adieu ma leale mastresse! Je prie a Dieu qu’il me convoye, Et doint que briefment vous revoye, Mon bien, m’amour et ma deesse! Car advis m’est, de ce que laisse, Qu’apres ma paine joye aroye. Adieu m’amour, adieu ma joye, Adieu le solas que j’avoye, Adieu ma leale mastresse! Le dire adieu tant fort me blesse, Qu’il me semble que morir doye. Farewell my love, farewell my joy, Farewell the comfort which I confess, Farewell my loyal mistress! Saying farewell wounds me so badly that it seems to me that I must die. With sorrow I weep greatly, there is no comfort that I can see when I leave you, my princess. Farewell my love, farewell my joy, Farewell the comfort which I confess, Farewell my loyal mistress! I pray to God that he will go with me, and grant that briefly I may see you again, My sweet, my love and my goddess! For it’s my view of what I’m leaving That after my pain I shall have joy. Farewell my love, farewell my joy, Farewell the comfort which I confess, Farewell my loyal mistress! Saying farewell wounds me so badly that it seems to me that I must die. 7. Asperges me (Plainchant) Asperges me Domine hyssopo et mundabor: lavabis me et super nivem dealbabor. Miserere mei Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam. Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum: dele iniquitatem meam. 20

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Cleanse me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 8. Veni Sancte Spiritus ( John Dunstable) Veni, Sancte Spiritus, et emitte caelitus lucis tuae radium. Veni, pater pauperum, veni, dator munerum, veni, lumen cordium. Consolator optime, dulcis hospes animae, dulce refrigerium. In labore requies, in aestu temperies, in fletu solatium. O lux beatissima, reple cordis intima tuorum fidelium. Sine tuo numine, nihil est in homine, nihil est innoxium. Lava quod est sordidum, riga quod est aridum, sana quod est saucium. Flecte quod est rigidum, fove quod est frigidum, rege quod est devium. Da tuis fidelibus, in te confidentibus, sacrum septenarium. Da virtutis meritum, da salutis exitum, da perenne gaudium. Come, Holy Spirit, send forth the heavenly radiance of your light. Come, father of the poor, come, giver of gifts, come, light of the heart. Greatest comforter, sweet guest of the soul, sweet consolation. In labour, rest, in heat, temperance, in tears, solace. O most blessed light, fill the inmost heart of your faithful. Without your grace, there is nothing in us, nothing that is not harmful. Cleanse that which is unclean, water that which is dry, heal that which is wounded. 21

Bend that which is inflexible, fire that which is chilled, correct what goes astray. Give to your faithful, those who trust in you, the sevenfold gifts. Grant the reward of virtue, grant the deliverance of salvation, grant eternal joy. 10. Agincourt Carol (Anon.)

Almighty God he keep owre kynge, His peple, and alle his well-wyllynge, And give them grace wythoute endyng; Then may we call and savely syng: Deo gratias! Deo gratias Anglia redde pro victoria!

Deo gratias Anglia redde pro victoria!

England, give thanks to God for victory!

Owre Kynge went forth to Normandy With grace and myght of chyvalry Ther God for hym wrought mervelusly; Wherefore Englonde may call and cry Deo gratias! Deo gratias Anglia redde pro victoria!

Our King went forth to Normandy with grace and might of chivalry. There God for him wrought marvellously; wherefore England may call and cry: Give thanks to God! England, give thanks to God for victory!

He sette sege, forsothe to say, To Harflu towne with ryal aray; That toune he wan and made afray That Fraunce shal rewe tyl domesday. Deo gratias! Deo gratias Anglia redde pro victoria!

He set a siege, forsooth to say, to Harfleur town with royal array; that town he won and made a fray that France shall rue â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;til doomsday. Give thanks to God! England, give thanks to God for victory!

Then went hym forth, owre king comely, In Agincourt feld he faught manly; Throw grace of God most marvelsuly, He had both feld and victory. Deo gratias! Deo gratias Anglia redde pro victoria!

Then went him forth, our king comely, in Agincourt field he fought manly; through grace of God most marvellously, he had both field and victory. Give thanks to God! England, give thanks to God for victory!

Ther lordys, erles and barone Were slayne and taken and that full soon, Ans summe were broght into Lundone With joye and blisse and gret renone. Deo gratias! Deo gratias Anglia redde pro victoria!

There lords, earls, and barons were slain, and taken, and that full soon, and some were brought into London with joy and bliss and great renown. Give thanks to God! England, give thanks to God for victory!

Almighty God, [may] he save our king, his people. and all his well-willing. And give them grace without ending: then may we call and safely sing: Give thanks to God! England, give thanks to God for victory! 11. Kyrie from Missa L’homme armé ( Johannes Ockeghem) L’homme, l’homme, l’homme armé, l’homme armé, L’homme armé doit on douter. On a fait par tout crier, Que chascun se viegne armer, d’un haubregon de fer. L’homme, l’homme, l’homme armé, l’homme armé, L’homme armé doit on douter. Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison. The man, the man, the armed man, one must beware the armed man. The word is that everyone must arm himself with a hauberk. The man, the man, the armed man, one must beware the armed man.

14. Sanctus (Roy Henry) Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Osanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Osanna in excelsis. Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. 15. Regina caeli I (Antoine Busnois) Regina caeli laetare, Alleluia. Quia quem meruisti portare, Alleluia. Iam surrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia. Ora pro nobis Deum. Alleluia. Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia. For He whom you were worthy to bear, alleluia. Now has risen, as He said, alleluia. Pray for us to God, alleluia.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. 12. Ave Maria mater Dei (William Cornysh) Ave Maria, mater Dei, regina caeli, domina mundi, imperatrix inferni, miserere mei et totius populi Christiani; et ne permitas nos mortaliter peccare; sed tuam sanctissimam voluntatem adimplere. Amen. Hail Mary, mother of God, queen of heaven, mistress of the world, empress of hell: have mercy on me and on all Christian people; and do not allow us to commit mortal sins; but help us to fulfil your most holy will. Amen.

Biographies Amici Voices was founded in 2012 for a performance of Bachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s John Passion. Born of an opportunity for some of the best young voices in the UK to experience first-hand the world of professional consort work, the singers are united by their drive to create the highest quality music with their friends. Three years on, the members of Amici Voices are experienced consort singers and soloists in their own right; their reputations as both individuals and an ensemble steadily growing. At its core, Amici Voices is a consort of eight singers. It is, however, a versatile unit that can be heard in a variety of combinations, involving all or just a few of the singers according to the needs of the repertoire. Its initial aims were to approach the large scale works of Bach as a group of soloists familiar with each others voices and used to singing together on a regular basis. The expansion to the earlier repertoire on this recording has proved a natural and very satisfying transition in which the demands of the music and poetry align seamlessly with their brilliance of communication and stylish virtuosity.

Terence Charlston is an internationally acknowledged specialist performer on early keyboard instruments. His broad career encompasses many complementary roles including solo and chamber musician, choral and orchestral director, and teacher and academic researcher. He was a member of the quartet London Baroque between 1995 and 2007 with whom he gave nearly 500 concerts worldwide and since 2009 has been a core member of the ensemble Florilegium. His wide repertoire spans the Middle Ages to the present day reflecting a passionate interest in keyboard music of all types and styles. He has recorded over 80 commercial CDs on harpsichord, organ, virginals, clavichord and fortepiano and his engaging and expressive performances have made him a frequent performer at collections of early keyboard instruments all over the world.

Amici Voices. Photograph by Peter Glendining

A dedicated and much sought after teacher, Terence takes pride in having been given a significant responsibility for the training of younger players and for the development practice-led research at several prestigious British conservatoires and universities. He founded the Department of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music in 1995 and is International Visiting Tutor in Harpsichord at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He joined the staff of the Royal College of Music, London in 2007 where he is Professor of Historical Keyboard Instruments, a personal chair created for him in 2016.

www.charlston.co.uk

www.amicivoices.com www.facebook.com/amicivoices www.twitter.com/AmiciVoices

Acknowledgements

A project of this size and scope draws together a large number of helpers without whom nothing can be achieved. We therefore very gratefully acknowledge the help of the following persons: Agincourt 600 Commemorative Fund for their sponsorship of this recording and especially Professor Anne Curry (University of Southampton) and Paula Kitching; Matt Parkin, Stephen Harrington and Will Gray (RCM Studios, Royal College of Music, London); Ed Pickering for tuning and preparing the RCM upright harpsichord; Gabriele Rossi Rognoni, Susana Caldeira, Lydia Cracknell (Royal College of Music Museum, London); Dr. Godfried Croenen (University of Liverpool) for information about the cover image and Mme Zerkane (Bibliothèque nationale de France) for authorisation to use it; Dr Nicolas Bell (Librarian, Trinity College Cambridge); Jonathan Lee and Ken Blair (BMP Recording); those churches who hosted our concerts, Revd Charles Burch, St Lawrence Church, Bovingdon, Revd Jonathan Meyer, St Mary the Virgin, Ewelme, and The Rector and PCC of St Andrew, Much Hadham; Dr Rowena E. Archer (Brasenose College, Oxford) and Jack Butterworth for their programme notes; Nicholas Jardine who welcomed this project with kind generosity and infectious enthusiasm; Rogers Covey-Crump for his vital and inspiring coaching; and most importantly David and Pat Evans for having the idea of a concert to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the battle of Agincourt in Ewelme church and their subsequent unfailing and unstinting support.

Editions of the music Plainchant Asperges me, ed. Nick Sandon, Antico Edition LCM1, 1984. Machaut, Gloria from Messe de Notre Dame, Pierre Gouin, Montréal: Les Éditions Outremontaises, 2007. Power, Sanctus from Missa Alma redemptoris mater, ed. Gareth Curtis, Antico Edition RCM1, 1982. Anon. De spineto nata rosa, ed. Andrew Wathey, Antico Edition MCM3, 1991. Dufay, Adieu m’amour, Willi Apel, Archibald T. Davison, Historical Anthology of Music, Vol. 1 (1949). Dunstable, Veni Sancte Spiritus, ed. Moriwaki Michio, by M.A.B. Soloists, 2001-2002. Anon, Agincourt Carol, ed. Abraham Wayman, 2010. Ockeghem, Kyrie from L’homme armé Mass, ed. Emilio Cano Molina, 2001 Ars Musica. Plainchant Kyrie (Lux et Origo), ed. Nick Sandon, Antico Edition LCM1, 1984. Roy Henry, Sanctus, The Old Hall Manuscript, ed. A. Hughes and M. Bent, CMM, xlvi (1969–73). Cornysh, Ave Maria Mater Dei, ed. Jason Smart, 2012. Busnois, Regina caeli I, ed. Michael Eckert, Antico Edition RCM4, 1987. Felix Namque, Retrové, Improvisation in the style of Adam Ileborgh, Mit ganzen Will, ed. Apel, Keyboard Music of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, CEKM 1, 1962. O rosa bella, John Dunstable: Complete Works, ed. M.F. Bukofzer, MB, viii (1953).

Cover picture Bataille d’Azincourt. Painting attributed to the anonymous master known as ‘le Maître de la Chronique d’Angleterre’, dated 1401–1500. Miniature taken from Abrégé de la Chronique d’Enguerrand de Monstrelet, XVe siècle, Paris, BnF, département des Manuscrits, ms. Fr. 2680, folio 208r.

Adieu m’amour: Music from the time of Agincourt Amici Voices / Terence Charlston Amici Sounds AS01415 5051078947020