The Dow Partbooks from which we sing (in beautiful facsimiles

produced by the Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music at

Oxford University) were written out for use around the table.

pages
SUPERIUS (GB-Och Mus. 984 pp.93–94) – the top part 4–5
MEDIUS (GB-Och Mus. 985 pp.92–93) – in-between top and lower parts 6–7
CONTRATENOR (GB-Och Mus. 986 pp.92–93) – the part that often seems to have been written
last, to add notes that are needed around the existing Tenor 8–9
TENOR (GB-Och Mus. 987 pp.88–89) – a plainchant tune may be “held” in longer notes 10–11
BASSUS (GB-Och Mus. 988 pp.86–87) – the lowest part 12–13

Facsimiles of Ave Maria by Robert Parsons

By kind permission of The Governing Body of Christ Church, Oxford
 VINUM & MUSICA
Singing at the table from Robert Dow’s Partbooks

TONUS PEREGRINUS
& TPII*

1 William Byrd O Lord, make Thy servant Elizabeth* 2'41

2 Anonymous Hey down down down 2'07
3 William Mundy Sive vigilem 3'01
4 William Byrd & Robert White Christe, qui lux es et dies* 4'37
5 William Byrd Tristitia et anxietas 9'00
6 Thomas Tallis O sacrum convivium* 4'36
7 “Mr Tayler” Christus resurgens* 1'37
8 Robert Parsons Ave Maria* (dans le château) 4'40
9 William Byrd Ne irascaris 7'35
10 Robert White Lamentations a 5 (part I) 9'18
11 Robert White Lamentations a 5 (part II) 9'53
12 Robert Parsons Ave Maria* (à l’église) 6'17
65'24
 TONUS PEREGRINUS
Joanna Forbes L’Estrange | Rebecca Hickey | Kathryn Knight
Alexander L’Estrange | Richard Eteson | Antony Pitts
Alexander Hickey | Alex Knight | Francis Brett | Nick Flower
with
Karen Pitts | Becca Brett | Tammy Flower

TPII*
Thomas Pitts | Anna Pitts | Raphael Pitts | Edward Flower | Eleanor Hickey | Ben Miles
William Hickey | Toby L’Estrange | Luke Pitts | Hugo Brett | Harry L’Estrange
James Flower | Grace Knight | Archie Knight | Amy Miles | Verity Brett | Cora Knight

recorded by
Geoff Miles
at
Château La Chutelière, 25–31 July 2019

with thanks as always to

and to our hosts, Jackie Keeley and Jennifer Cock

and special guests, David & Rosemary Pitts
*in absentia, Sophia Pitts | William Flower | Arran Miles | Sophie Miles
 À TABLE!
It was in 1581 (in his late twenties) that Robert Dow began to write out all his favourite music into five
partbooks – designed for his dinner guests to sing and play from, as they enjoyed his wine and his
company. In his near-immaculately copied-out manuscripts Dow chooses to focus right at the
beginning of each on two key aspects of life: wine and music – “Vinum et Musica Lætificant Corda” –
“Wine and Music Make Hearts Merry/Rejoice”, as he inscribed with emphatic initial capitals at the
beginning of each partbook! And so they do.

4
 5
It’s hard to overstate the unusual and significant aspects of this recording project, both in terms of the
repertoire and its provenance, and for TONUS PEREGRINUS as an ensemble with a line-up essentially
unchanged for quarter of a century – we began barely out of our childhood as students and have an
ever-burgeoning complement of our own children. Although an unusual project, Vinum et Musica is
completely in keeping with our historical and open-ended search for real artistic authenticity at the
same time as simply and greatly enjoying the making of music and good company. Recording this album
was made possible only by great generosity, and that generosity fortunately extended to the way we
learnt, rehearsed, and recorded this incredible music together – “pastime with good company”, as
Henry VIII may well have put it.

For a good number of years now we have been meeting with friends in upper rooms in London pubs
(and beyond the UK with other ensembles such as Cappella Pratensis in the Low Countries and The
Song Company, Australia’s national vocal ensemble) and rediscovering with others the pretty much
“lost art of partbooking”. Thomas Morley recounts an anecdote from the perspective of his fictitious
student Philomathes in A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke (1597): “But supper being
ended, the Musicke bookes, according to the custome being brought to the table: the mistresse of the
house presented mee with a part, earnestly requesting mee to sing. But when after manie excuses, I
protested unfainedly that I could not: everie one began to wonder. Yea, some whispered to others,
demaunding how I was brought up ...”
Singing from partbooks is very different from the way singers normally perform today in at least five
different ways: unlike modern sheet music, where you can see everything else that’s going on, a
partbook just has one part. What’s more, there are no barlines, so even working out where the beat (or
tactus) is and keeping in time is, to put it mildly, challenging. The words are written down (in an often
hard-to-decipher script) but not always in the right place and sometimes clearly meant to be repeated
without indication. Even knowing what page you’re to start on requires some discipline as the
complexities of notation (some parts take up more space on the page than others) mean that the same
piece is on differently numbered pages across the five partbooks – and the canonic drinking song Hey
down down down only appears in the Bassus partbook.

6
 7
Last but not least, the harmony requires “modulating” from what is on the page for the twin reasons
of “necessity” and “beauty” – scholars disagreed then and disagree now, but the differences obtained
by such modulation are immense and often very affecting without being necessarily “correct” or even
one of the textbook answers.
But more importantly than these limitations – or quite possibly enablers – is that this is precisely the
way famous composers such as William Byrd, and their friends such as Robert Dow, actually
experienced their own music. And so, we really should too – in order to understand both their practical
approach and their communal music-making experience.

8
 9
Partbooking is a great leveller – the most formidable musicians and sight-readers extraordinaires find
that the ground has been taken away from under them, particularly in terms of rhythmic structure and
harmonic orientation. Reading from Renaissance partbooks does require some individual preparation
simply to understand the basics in terms of notes and rest values, but it’s impossible to know how the
piece works without hearing it with all the parts sung together – so one has to learn it in the company
of others, which can be an uncomfortably revealing process!

When people talk about authenticity or “HIP” (“historically informed performance”) they generally mean
understanding what the treatises say about ornamentation or using the instruments that were actually
used several centuries ago. What they don’t mean is wearing a wig, taking snuff, and undergoing medical
treatments of the same era. Well, we weren’t doing any of those things either, but we did take one
holistic aspect of this 16th-century English repertoire very seriously indeed – the fact that (at least)
these extant partbooks from the period were clearly designed to be used in familial settings, in private
residences and it seems, at the table, with the normal things that you might find on a table, i.e. food and
drink – and candles, of course.
Our experience since the early 1990s is as an ensemble of friends with careers across the musical
spectrum, leading and singing in other ensembles and spearheading music production and publishing
as well as extramusical trajectories in the law and beyond. Each of us has followed our own journeys
directing other ensembles such as The Swingle Singers, The Amaryllis Consort, and The Song Company,

10
 11
as well as affecting, and in some cases guiding the industry at places as varied as Faber Music, Hyperion
Records, and BBC Radio 3. When we have gathered to record in the studio or to perform live, these
individual experiences have combined to create our unique sound and style.

For this project we and our families simply lived together for ten days or so, and sang each day around
the table, sometimes with most if not all of the next generation (ambitiously called TPII, whether
actually singing or absorbing by osmosis). This meant that our musical performance was but one part
of our collective experience which included cricket, underwater rugby, Avengers RISK, and a lot of meal-
preparing and appreciating, and seriously competitive table tennis, ... oh, and Body Body and Names in
the Hat (if those games mean anything ...).

Apart from the opening toast-cum-prayer and a drinking round to get us started (both, perhaps
surprisingly to our modern way of life, are contained within these same partbooks), on this album we
make our way through a cornucopia of stunning sacred polyphony in Latin, by the top names from late
16th-century England: William Byrd, William Mundy, Robert Parsons, Thomas Tallis, Robert White, and
the mysterious “Mr Tayler”. There is also the sense of performing slightly furtively in a private home
(albeit a château), as the contemporaries of Mr Dow (most likely including William Byrd himself) were
forced to keep some of their musical activities hidden from the authorities, as Roman Catholics in a
time of religious persecution by the State. However, despite any furtiveness, the sense of enjoyment is
literally written in to these five manuscript partbooks. In our château in France we journeyed, as much
as one can, through space and time to a dinner party in the late 1580s, somewhere between Oxford
and London at the home of Robert Dow ...

Unlike normal studio recordings of prepared repertoire from modern editions, we weren’t at all sure
of the best way to do each piece, in terms of pitch and part configuration, until we tried them out at
the table, and we needed to remain flexible in this regard throughout our time at the château. These
partbooks were designed to be sung at and around the table, by voices and/or instruments, and
presumably therefore with whoever turned up for dinner taking the parts as needed. Our own
experience of this is that the relative ranges of the parts change across the repertoire in the Dow
Partbooks, and we swapped around to get the best available fit as we went along. Of the twelve tracks
on this album, two are basically single “live” takes, including a “bootleg” recording of our foray into the
local community for Sunday morning Mass, and the rest have been lovingly assembled from our daily
sessions at the table. By kind permission of Christ Church, Oxford, and facilitated by DIAMM, facsimiles
of Ave Maria by Robert Parsons are included so that you can sing along at home if you so wish.

12
 13
When you perform in this way you have lots of choices to make and agree upon along the way. For this
album we have deliberately let stand some of the more provocative ficta choices and mixing of
hexachords, whether they be simply novice errors or sophisticated experiments. It’s certainly easy to
believe that Byrd (clearly responsible for some extraordinary harmonic conflagrations elsewhere in his
works) would have been interested in some of the conjunctions we stumbled upon, and by Henry
Purcell’s time a century later such sonic colours were part of his language. I am always happy to argue
over a glass of wine and a partbook ... but let’s let Robert Dow have the final say:
 Musica capitur omne quod vivit si naturam sequitur.
Everything that lives is captivated by music if it follows nature.
 Vinum et Musica Lætificant Corda.
Wine and Music Make Hearts Rejoice.

1
William Byrd O Lord, make Thy servant Elizabeth
O Lord, make Thy servant Elizabeth our Queen to rejoice in Thy strength;
give her her heart’s desire and deny not the request of her lips,
but prevent her with Thine everlasting blessing,
and give her a long life, even for ever and ever.
Amen.

Cantores inter, quod in æthere sol, bone Birde:

Cur arctant laudes disticha nostra tuas?
Good Byrd, among singers as the sun in the aether:
Why do our couplets confine your praises?

2
Anonymous Hey down down down
Hey down down down down, sing ye now after me
la mi sol re fa so shall we well agree
take heed [hede] to your tyme and rest as you finde
the round (b) and the square (#) must be tuned in their kinde
O well sung [song] my ladds I say we are as good by night as by day
la mi sol re fa let us be merry here
as long tyme as we may for tyme truly passeth away
hey ho hey ho hey ho hey down down down ...

ut re mi fa sol la ... la sol fa mi re ut

 Sicut in fabricatione auri signum est smaragdi:
Sic numerus musicorum in iucundo et moderato vino.
As a signet of an emerald in a work of gold:
so is the melody of music-making with pleasant and moderate wine.

3
William Mundy Sive vigilem
Sive vigilem, sive dormiam, sive edam aut bibam, Whether I am awake or asleep, whether I eat or drink,
semper videor mihi audire sonum tubae always I seem to hear the sound of the trumpet
et voce angeli clamantis et dicentis: and the voice of an angel calling out and saying:
Surgite mortui, et venite ad iudicium. Rise up, ye dead, and come to the judgement.
Vigilemus et oremus, quia nescimus Let us watch and pray, for we do not know
diem neque horam quando Dominus veniet. the day nor the hour when the Lord will come.
(attrib. St Francis of Assisi and St Jerome)

Dies lunæ – Ut lucem solis sequitur lux proxima lunæ

Sic tu post Birdum Munde secunde venis!
Monday – As the moon’s light follows next after the sun’s light,
So you, Mundy, come second after Byrd.

4
William Byrd & Robert White Christe, qui lux es et dies
Christe qui lux es et dies, Christ who art the light and day,
Noctis tenebras detegis, Thou drivest darksome night away;
Lucisque lumen crederis, We know Thee as the Light of light,
Lumen beatum praedicans. Illuminating mortal sight.

Precamur, sancte Domine, All-holy Lord, we pray to Thee,

Defende nos in hac nocte; Keep us tonight from danger free.
Sit nobis in te requies, Grant us, dear Lord, in Thee to rest,
Quietam noctem tribue. So be our sleep in quiet blest.
Ne gravis somnus irruat, Let not the tempter round us creep,
Nec hostis nos surripiat, With thoughts of evil while we sleep.
Nec caro illi consentiens Nor with his wiles the flesh allure,
Nos tibi reos statuat. And make us in Thy sight impure.

Oculi somnum capiant, And while the eyes soft slumber take,
Cor ad te semper vigilet, Still be the heart to Thee awake,
Dextera tua protegat Be Thy right hand upheld above
Famulos qui te diligunt. Thy servants resting in Thy love.

Defensor noster aspice, Yea, our Defender, be Thou nigh

Insidiantes reprime, To bid the powers of darkness fly,
Guberna tuos famulos, Keep us from sin, and guide for good
Quos sanguine mercatus es. Thy servants purchased by Thy blood.

Memento nostri, Domine, Remember us, dear Lord, we pray,

In gravi isto corpore: While in this mortal flesh we stay;
Qui es defensor animae, ’Tis Thou who dost the soul defend,
Adesto nobis, Domine. Be present with us to the end.
Amen. Amen.
(Compline hymn, trans. Richard Runciman Terry)

Non est harmonice compositus qui Musica non delectatur.

The person who doesn’t like Music is not at harmony with himself.

5
William Byrd Tristitia et anxietas
Tristitia et anxietas occupaverunt interiora mea. Depression and anxiety have overcome my soul.
Moestum factum est cor meum in dolore, My heart is faint with grief
et contenebrati sunt oculi mei. and my eyes are dimmed.
Vae mihi quia peccavi. Woe to me that I have sinned.
Sed tu Domine, qui non derelinquis sperantes in te, But Thou, O Lord, who do not abandon those who
consolare et adiuva me, hope in you, comfort and help me
propter nomen sanctum tuum, et miserere mei. for Thy holy Name's sake, and have mercy on me.
(after Lamentations 5:17)
 Musica lætificat corda.
Music makes hearts rejoice.
Musica vel ipsas arbores et horridas movet feras.
Music moves even trees and fearsome wild beasts.
Musica mentis medicina mœstae.
Music is the medicine of the sad mind.

6
Thomas Tallis O sacrum convivium
O sacrum convivium O sacred banquet,
in quo Christus sumitur. wherein Christ is received;
Recolitur memoria passionis eius, the memorial of His passion is renewed;
mens impletur gratia: the soul is filled with grace;
et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur. and a pledge of future glory is given to us.
(attrib. St Thomas Aquinas)

Tallisius magno dignus honore senex.

Tallis is an old man worthy of great honour.

7
“Mr Tayler” Christus resurgens
Christus resurgens ex mortuis iam non moritur: Christ, rising again from the dead, dieth now no more.
mors illi ultra non dominabitur. [...] Death shall no more have dominion over him. […]
Quod enim vivit, vivit Deo. But in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Alleluia. Alleluia.
(Romans 6:9–10)

Galli cantant, Itali caprizant, Germani ululant, Angli iubilant

The French sing, the Italians quaver, the Germans wail, and the English make a joyful noise(!)
8 (& 12)
Robert Parsons Ave Maria
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Hail, Mary, full of grace [highly favoured],
Dominus tecum: the Lord is with thee:
benedicta tu in mulieribus, Blessed art thou among women,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui. and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
Amen. Amen.
(Luke 1:28,42)

Qui tantus primo Parsone in flore fuisti,

Quantus in autumno ni morerere fores?
Parsons, who were so great in your first flowering,
How great should you have been in your autumn, had you not died!

9
William Byrd Ne irascaris
Ne irascaris, Domine, satis Be not angry, O Lord, still,
et ne ultra memineris iniquitatis nostrae. neither remember our iniquity for ever.
Ecce, respice, populus tuus omnes nos. Behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all Thy people.

Civitas sancti tui facta est deserta. The holy cities are a wilderness.
Sion deserta facta est, Jerusalem desolata est. Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
(Isaiah 64: 9-10)

Qui decus es generi genti Philomelaque nostræ;

Birde precor longum voce manuque canas!
You who are a glory to our race, and a nightingale to our people,
Byrd, I pray that you make music with voice and hand for a long time to come!
10
Robert White Lamentations a 5 (part I)
‫ח‬ HETH
Peccatum peccavit Jerusalem, Jerusalem hath grievously sinned;
propterea instabilis facta est: therefore she is removed:
omnes qui glorificabant eam all that honoured her
spreverunt illam, despise her,
quia viderunt ignominiam eius: because they have seen her nakedness:
ipsa autem gemens et conversa est retrorsum. yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.

‫ט‬ TETH
Sordes eius in pedibus eius, Her filthiness [is] in her skirts;
nec recordata est finis sui: she remembereth not her last end;
deposita est vehementer, therefore she came down wonderfully:
non habens consolatorem. she had no comforter.
Vide, Domine, afflictionem meam, O LORD, behold my affliction:
quoniam erectus est inimicus. for the enemy hath magnified [himself].

‫י‬ IOD
Manum suam misit hostis The adversary hath spread out his hand
ad omnia desiderabilia eius, upon all her pleasant things:
quia vidit gentes for she hath seen [that] the heathen
ingressas sanctuarium suum, entered into her sanctuary,
de quibus preceperas ne intrarent whom thou didst command [that] they should not
in ecclesiam tuam. enter into thy congregation.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum. return unto the Lord thy God.
(The Lamentations of Jeremiah 1:8-10)

Non ita mœsta sonant plangentis verba Prophetae,

Quam sonat authoris musica mœsta mei.
Not even the mournful prophet’s words sound as sad,
As does the distressing music of my composer.
11
Robert White Lamentations a 5 (part II)
‫כ‬ CAPH
Omnis populus eius gemens, All her people sigh,
et quaerens panem: they seek bread;
dederunt preciosa quaeque pro cibo they have given their pleasant things for meat
ad refocillandam animam. to relieve the soul:
Vide, Domine, et considera, see, O LORD, and consider;
quoniam facta sum vilis. for I am become vile.

‫ל‬ LAMED
O vos omnes qui transitis per viam, [Is it] nothing to you, all ye that pass by?
attendite et videte si est dolor behold, and see if there be any sorrow
sicut dolor meus: like unto my sorrow,
quoniam vindemiavit me, which is done unto me,
ut locutus est Dominus wherewith the LORD hath afflicted [me]
in die irae furoris sui. in the day of his fierce anger.

‫מ‬ MEM
De excelso misit ignem From above hath he sent fire
in ossibus meis et erudivit me: into my bones, and it prevaileth against them:
expandit rete pedibus meis, he hath spread a net for my feet,
convertit me retrorsum, he hath turned me back:
posuit me desolationem tota die he hath made me desolate
maerore confectam. [and] faint all the day.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum. return unto the Lord thy God.
(The Lamentations of Jeremiah 1:11-13)

Maxima musarum nostrarum gloria White,

Tu peris, æternum sed tua musa manet.
Greatest glory of our muses, White,
You perish, but your muse remains for ever.
TONUS PEREGRINUS was founded by the composer Antony Pitts in 1990, during his studies with Dr
Edward Higginbottom at New College, Oxford, to record Music for a Large Audience. It has become an
established ensemble in Britain and abroad with a significant discography on Hyperion and Naxos, and
a reputation for excellence and originality. Early acclaim in the BBC Music Magazine, Fanfare,
Gramophone, and The Telegraph spoke for itself: “utterly spellbinding”, “heatedly recommended”,
“utterly beguiling”, “gloriously sung by this superb choir”, as did the prestigious Cannes Classical Award
for the ensemble’s debut release and No.1 album of Arvo Pärt Passio – “Editor’s Choice” in Gramophone,
as was the Hyperion album Seven Letters and other sacred choral music.

TONUS PEREGRINUS recorded a series of “milestones of Western Music” for Naxos including the first
polyphony and music in four parts, Léonin / Pérotin – Sacred Music from Notre-Dame Cathedral; the
first-ever opera or musical comedy, Le Jeu de Robin et de Marion; the first polyphonic settings of the
Mass and the Passion, The Mass of Tournai; the first new sounds of the Renaissance, Sweet Harmony –
masses and motets by John Dunstaple; a re-invention of the first English hymnbook from 1623, Hymns
and Songs of the Church, and perhaps the jewel in the crown, Music from the Eton Choirbook.

TONUS PEREGRINUS has a history of performing at extraordinary occasions such as the memorials for
Alexander Litvinenko – a former audience member – and of putting on remarkable live productions such
as a semi-staged version of the 14th-century Le Voir Dit by Guillaume de Machaut; other innovative
projects include The Naxos Book of Carols – circulated to millions of homes in the UK and available as a
printed carol-book from Faber Music – and the ensemble’s studio rendition of Tears for Fears’s Mad
World.

At the core of TONUS PEREGRINUS are a dozen or so singers who combine their diverse expertise to
interpret a repertoire ranging from the end of the Dark Ages to scores where the ink is still wet. This
breadth of vision is reflected in the name of the ensemble which comes from an ancient plainsong
psalm tone with Jewish origins, directly linked to the Passover and the Last Supper. The tonus
peregrinus chant starts on a different note in each half, hence “wandering tone” and was nicknamed
tonus novissimus, the “newest”. After more than three decades, the founding vision is as strong as
ever: authentic & original.
À bientôt!
 Cantabo Domino in vita mea,
psallam Deo meo quam diu sum.
I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live:
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.