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A short fragment of musical notation has been identified as part of a pre-Reformation religious chant, offering interesting insights into the musical traditions of 16th-century Scotland.
The piece of music was originally discovered in 2011, but until recently its identity was unknown. It had been bound within a copy of The Aberdeen Breviary (a collection of religious texts, such as prayers and hymns, that was compiled in 1510) known as the ‘Glamis copy’, as it was formerly curated at Glamis Castle; today, it is held by the National Library of Scotland.
The melody is only 55 notes long, and has no indication of a title or composer – but, after catching the attention of musicologists Dr Paul Newton-Jackson of KU Leuven, Belgium, and David Coney and Dr James Cook of Edinburgh University, the music has been identified for the first time. It represents the tenor part of an arrangement of Cultor Dei (‘Servant of God’), a religious chant that is still performed within some Anglican churches during the season of Lent. The piece is an example of ‘faburden’, a technique for layering simple lines on top of an existing tune, resulting in multiple melodies being sung in harmony.
This discovery is significant as there are very few surviving examples of musical notation from 16th-century Scotland, and none at all from Scotland’s north-east. This has resulted in a widespread belief that polyphonic music was only practised in pre- Reformation Scotland’s wealthiest institutions, such as the Chapel Royal. ‘It gives us some indication of the kind of music that was performed in more distant, parochial places, and demonstrates that complex music was being performed even outside of the main centres in Scotland,’ James explained.
The scribe who set down this melody must have had some musical training, the researchers argue. The individual responsible was probably a cleric who was perhaps attempting to compose around the known melody of Cultor Dei, or who had even heard an arrangement of the piece that they enjoyed and wished to note down. While the Glamis copy does include the names of several possible owners of the book, it is unclear which, if any, of these figures might have created the notation. However, it is likely that the scribe was a chaplain at St Mary’s Chapel, Rattray, in northern Aberdeenshire, and they may also have had connections with Aberdeen Cathedral.
Text: Rebecca Preedy / Photo: National Library of Scotland (CC BY 4.0)
