Discovery of rare music brings the sounds of monks back from the past
For the first time in nearly five centuries, Buckland Abbey in Devon is resonating once more with the sacred sounds of monastic music and it’s all thanks to research into a rare 15th-century manuscript.
The Cistercian abbey is now in the care of The National Trust. It was once alive with music with the resident monks and singing for hours every day.
It sadly fell silent when King Henry VIII shut down every abbey and priory in England during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
A centuries-old book, once owned and used by the abbey, is now on loan to Buckland Abbey for the first time since the Dissolution with its music heard once more thanks to the University of Exeter Chapel Choir. It’s part of the British Library’s collection.
The artifact is known as a ‘customary.’ The richly decorated Buckland Book dates from around 1450 and contains the instructions the monks needed to carry out their daily religious rituals and services.
Unusually, it also contains a rare collection of medieval music copied and added to the book in the early Tudor period.
The manuscript was discovered by University of Exeter historian, Professor James Clark. He came across it while researching Buckland Abbey’s monastic past on behalf of the National Trust.
Hardly any of the music performed in England’s medieval monasteries now survives – because their books were lost or destroyed during the Tudor Reformation.
‘This collection seems to have been unusually creative’
The music is in a style called ‘plainchant’, with single lines of music for monks or priests to sing all together.
What makes the music more unusual is that rather than following the rigid liturgical structure of the time, with particular pieces sung at different times of the day, the monks curated a unique sequence of chants drawn from various sources.
The west front of Buckland Abbey, Devon. Image: © Sarah Davis / National Trust Images
‘Whoever compiled this collection seems to have been unusually creative, pulling together words and music from many different sources,’ says Daisy Gibbs, National Trust Research Officer and music historian.
‘The pieces found in the book ask for God’s mercy, forgiveness and protection from harm. They share a real feeling of anxiety and fear.’
‘It looks as though they were once sung as a complete sequence, perhaps to help the monks through a crisis of some kind. We still have work to do to find out exactly how unusual this collection is.’
‘There’s still work to be done to find out what happened to the Buckland Book between the closure of the abbey and when it was acquired by the Harley family in the 1720s, before being sold to the British Museum in 1753.’
‘Perhaps one of the monks took the book with him, and it remained quietly on a shelf after the hoped-for reversal of the Dissolution didn’t come.’
‘It’s possible we’ll never know. But we feel very privileged that our work with the University of Exeter and the British Library has allowed us to bring the voices of those monks and choirboys back to life.’
‘It is very exciting to recover something of their sound’
One suggestion for the purpose of the composition is that the music was intended as a response to the sweating sickness, which broke out repeatedly in Tudor England.
It was lethal and often killed its’ victims within 24 hours. The disease seemed to target young and middle-aged men. Henry VIII’s Chief Minister, Thomas Cromwell, lost his wife and two daughters to the illness.
Working in partnership, the National Trust and University researchers have now transcribed the music for its first performance in nearly five centuries.
View of the south front of Buckland Abbey. Image: © George Wright / National Trust Images
The University of Exeter Chapel Choir recorded the music, bringing the voices of the long-lost monks back to life.
The recording forms part of the soundtrack to a new exhibition featuring the Buckland Book, Opening the Buckland Book: Music and community in a Tudor monastery (which is running until the end of October).
The University of Exeter Chapel Choir will also perform the music live in Buckland Abbey’s medieval Great Barn on 16 and 17 August. The event is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council through an Impact Accelerator Account Award.
‘Having searched the archives for traces of England’s lost abbeys, it is very exciting to recover something of their sound,’ says Professor Clark.
‘Before the Tudor Reformation, in every part of England and Wales there were places like this dedicated to creative music-making and performance.’
‘Through this research we can now learn much more about this tradition and what it meant not only for the musicians but also for the surrounding communities that shared in their art.’
The Chapel at Buckland Abbey, Devon. Image: © Andreas von Einsiedel / National Trust Images
‘We had to make decisions about how the pieces should sound’
The Buckland music is also unusual because we know the name of the abbey’s choir master and organist from this time.
Robert Derkeham began living and working at the monastery in 1522 and stayed there for more than 15 years, until it closed and he was pensioned off.
Experts say it’s exceptionally rare to be able to connect a book of medieval music like this with the specific musician who performed it.
‘Although the music is written down using the same notation that’s still used in the modern Catholic Church, it doesn’t give any instructions about rhythm or dynamics, so we had to make decisions about how the pieces should sound,’ explains Michael Graham, the University’s Director of Chapel Music.
‘This is one of the most interesting, and also most challenging, parts of performing music that’s over 500 years old!’
‘Our students have really enjoyed being involved in the project, and have relished the opportunity to explore this rich vein of music and bring it to life in our chapel on campus.’
The work is a collaboration between the National Trust and the University of Exeter – supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council.
Breaktime News previously reported on plans for more than 30,000 trees to be planted in the surroundings of Buckland Abbey in the tranquil Tavy Valley.
