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Scoring:
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composition
A Choirbook for Henry VIII and His Sisters : 6 motets for mixed choir / Anonymous; transcribed and edited by Cees Wagemakers
Other authors:
Wagemakers, Cees
(Editor)
Anonymous (Early Music)
(Composer)
Contains:
Richard Sampson: Salve radix (2’15”)
Richard Sampson: Missa Mente tota (10’)
Benedictus de Opitiis: Sub tuum præsidium (3’30”)
Richard Sampson: Quam pulchra es (4’45”)
Richard Sampson (attr.): Hæc est præclarum vas (2’45”)
Richard Sampson (or Jacotin?): Beati omnes qui timent Dominum (5’30”)
Description:
King Henry VIII of the House of Tudor in Great-Britain (1491-1547) was a remarkable man. Let’s keep his life story concise by mentioning the difficulty he had in combining a private life and the life as a statesman. The result was a series of dead and expelled wives. Some famous libraries have been filled with historical facts about him. And he is even subject to tv-entertainment.
Although he is depicted in history as a cruel and ruthless man, he must have had his better side. He loved music and wrote some deserving songs of which Pastyme with good companye is well known and on the repertoire of many a chamber choir.
Some composers have written music for Henry personally, one of which is Richard Sampson (c. 1535-1571), a clergyman and an important agent in Henry’s divorce proceedings, which helped his career in the Church of England. Eventually he became the bishop of Chichester and later of Coventry and Lichfield.
The Royal Library in London possesses a precious and richly illustrated and calligraphed book from the 16th century, containing 6 motets for King Henry VIII and his Sisters. Three of these motets are written by Richard Sampson and possibly two others as well. One of the compositions is certainly written by Benedictus de Opitiis, because it is found in the Leyden Choir Books as well.
The most eye-catching piece in this book is a canon fuga in diatessaron ‘Salve radix’. This means that one voice sings the same notes as another voice, only transposed by a fourth or a fifth, up or down, a few beats later. It is written as a circle with a red rose in the centre. The red rose is a symbol for King Henry. In the second motet ‘Psallite felices’ this rose appears in the lyrics: ‘sing happily, you fortunate people under the eaves of the red rose that God himself gave to the English’.
Cees Wagemakers, 2015