Some interesting articles have been written, and some important research has been done, which connect with our project. Here we shall be posting a series of downloads or links. The first is a recent article by David Pinto, entitled 'Consort anthem, Orlando Gibbons, and musical texts', discussing what the surviving evidence may tell us about how consort anthems were originally performed. It was published in the Journal of the Viola da Gamba Society (Volume Nine 2015), but is also available here to download.
| pinto_consort_anthem_...pdf |
The second is the 1992 PhD thesis by Dr Lynn Hulse 'The musical patronage of the English aristocracy, c.1590 - 1640', which was the result of wide research into the families that supported music such as consort anthems and the locations where they might have been performed. The thesis can be found at two links, the first at King's College, London and the second at the British Library EThOS service, for which you will need to register.
The third is an important article 'The Myth of A+3' by Dr Andrew Johnstone, which condenses one that he wrote in Early Music in 2003 (vol xxxi/4 November 2003, pages 507-524: 'As it was in the beginning': organ and choir pitch in early Anglican Church music). Here he explains the how the misguided practice of transposing "up a minor third" became established in the performance of so much pre-Restoration English sacred music, and why it is based upon a faulty interpretation of evidence concerning the Tudor organ.
| johnstone_myth_of_a_3.pdf |