# John Taverner 1490 - 1545



## Taggart

John Taverner (c. 1490 - 18 October 1545) was an English composer and organist, regarded as one of the most important English composers of his era.









Nothing is known of Taverner's activities before 1524. He appears to have come from south Lincolnshire, but there is no indication of his parentage. According to one of his own letters, he was related to the Yerburghs, a well-to-do Lincolnshire family. The earliest information is that in 1524 Taverner travelled from Tattershall, Lincolnshire, to the Church of St Botolph in nearby Boston as a guest singer.[2] Two years later, in 1526, Taverner became the first Organist and Master of the Choristers at Christ Church, Oxford, appointed by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. The college had been founded in 1525 by Cardinal Wolsey, and was then known as Cardinal College. Immediately before this, Taverner had been a clerk fellow at the Collegiate Church of Tattershall. In 1528 he was reprimanded for his (probably minor) involvement with Lutherans, but escaped punishment for being "but a musician". Wolsey fell from favour in 1529, and in 1530 Taverner left the college.
As far as can be told, Taverner had no further musical appointments, nor can any of his known works be dated to after that time, so he may have ceased composition. It is often said that after leaving Oxford, Taverner worked as an agent of Thomas Cromwell assisting in the Dissolution of the Monasteries, although the veracity of this is now thought to be highly questionable. He is known to have settled eventually in Boston, Lincolnshire where he was a small landowner and reasonably well-off. He was appointed an alderman of Boston in 1545, shortly before his death. He is buried under the belltower at Boston Parish Church.

(Usual source)


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## Taggart

Some examples of his work:


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## Manxfeeder

Here is a quote from Howard M. Brown in Music in the Renaissance:

"Arguably the greatest of all English pre-Reformation composers was John Taverner, whose magnificent music can be said to sum up developments in England during the first 40 years of the 16th Century, for it embodies most of the achievements of his contemporaries . . . Taverner introduced into his larger and more elaborate music frequent imitations, melodic sequences, chordal passages and sections of antiphonal dialogue between parts of the choir. Yet he continued to write counterpoint in the florid English manner . . . often he preferred to vary some of the intervals in the point of imitation or the pattern of the sequence perhaps in order to veil slightly the clarity of his design."


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## Taggart

I love this from the The Oxford Companion to Music:

"As the unwitting creator of the genre of the In nomine, he had an impact on English instrumental music up to the time of Purcell."






From Grove:

The Benedictus section of Taverner's six-part Mass Gloria tibi Trinitas falls into two unequal parts, the second setting the words 'In nomine Domini' for four of the six voices. This extract seems to have become detached from the main work and circulated as a separate movement. It is a fine piece in its own right and not surprisingly attracted imitations using the same cantus firmus. The normal complexities of early Tudor church music are absent, for it is the only section of the mass in which the whole of the plainchant melody appears in notes of equal length (breves), in duple time and with only three accompanying parts.

William Lawes and John Browne gave a new aspect to the cantus firmus by transposing it from minor to major. Browne's composition is also notable for the instructions it contains about speeds, 'come of' (fast) and 'drag' (slow). Another In Nomine by William Lawes in six parts allows the plainchant to wander between the two treble and two bass viols. The last of the In Nomines, by Purcell, are among the greatest in their austerity and dignity. Particularly telling is Purcell's exploitation of seven viols together using a formula of repeated minims that goes back to Parsons and beyond, thus emphasizing the continuity of a 150-year tradition.


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## MagneticGhost

Thanks Taggart for listing this old master.










This is one of my desert island discs. I never tire of listening to it. The mass in context. Echoey chambers, the smell of incense, the swish of the clerical robes. It's all there.
Unfotunately this CD is out of print now. I had to source a second hand copy because I'd worn my first one out.


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## Novelette

Taggart, thank you for bringing Taverner up.

I hadn't listened to any of his music until today. I'm always on the look out for more pre-Baroque music to explore!

Cheers! :tiphat:


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## MagneticGhost

I've been adding to my Taverner collection over the last few months and it is now complete. I haven't been disappointed by any of these discs from the Sixteen. This is glorious music and highly recommended to any lover of Renaissance music.


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## Headphone Hermit

It is unfortunate that he is so little known and so little heard, even in the UK .... we tend to be a little self-effacing when it comes to being proud of 'our' composers and their music.


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## Mandryka

There's a very successful new recording of the Corona Spinea mass by Edinburgh Cathedral Choir well worth checking out IMO, despite the reverberation of the cathedral setting. The mass is really Dionysian almost, wild and crazy music,,quite extraordinary music. Does anyone have David Trendell's recording of this mass with Kings College London which they can share with me? There's a copy on Amazon.com but it's too expensive for me to buy. 

Also Blue Heron have released a single this year of Taverner's Dum Transsiset.


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## Mandryka

MagneticGhost said:


> Thanks Taggart for listing this old master.
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> This is one of my desert island discs. I never tire of listening to it. The mass in context. Echoey chambers, the smell of incense, the swish of the clerical robes. It's all there.
> Unfotunately this CD is out of print now. I had to source a second hand copy because I'd worn my first one out.


I think this post refers to Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitatis by Andrew Parrott and his consort, it is indeed a magnificent recording, as his is disc of Tudor music by Taverner Browne and Carver.


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## MagneticGhost

Mandryka said:


> I think this post refers to Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitatis by Andrew Parrott and his consort, it is indeed a magnificent recording, as his is disc of Tudor music by Taverner Browne and Carver.


That's the one.  I'll have to seek out the Tudor one that you mention.


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## MagneticGhost

Well I've sought out that Tudor one. And it's wonderful. Works from the Eton Choirbook never disappoint me and Parrott and his singing troupe are nothing short of sensational. Wonderful acoustics.










I was very excited to stumble across this rarely recorded Mass of his. 'The Meane Mass'. It also contains 3 Magnificats and a couple of Motets I don't yet own. It's still in the post at the moment but I can't wait to listen to it.
Actually I'm more than very excited. I didn't even know that a recording of this existed as when I searched before I didn't find this.
This will leave only the Plainchant Mass of his extant masses to find for my collection.


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## Mandryka

MagneticGhost said:


> Well I've sought out that Tudor one. And it's wonderful. Works from the Eton Choirbook never disappoint me and Parrott and his singing troupe are nothing short of sensational. Wonderful acoustics.
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> I was very excited to stumble across this rarely recorded Mass of his. 'The Meane Mass'. It also contains 3 Magnificats and a couple of Motets I don't yet own. It's still in the post at the moment but I can't wait to listen to it.
> Actually I'm more than very excited. I didn't even know that a recording of this existed as when I searched before I didn't find this.
> This will leave only the Plainchant Mass of his extant masses to find for my collection.
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> View attachment 82083


Have you had a chance to hear the M. Corona Spinea from St Mary's Edinburgh?


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## MagneticGhost

Mandryka said:


> Have you had a chance to hear the M. Corona Spinea from St Mary's Edinburgh?


No - but having looked for it on Amazon and read the reviews I'm going to make it a priority tomorrow.
:tiphat: Thanks for the tip


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## premont

Mandryka said:


> I think this post refers to _Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitatis by Andrew Parrott _and his consort, it is indeed a magnificent recording...


Yes, I recently acquired this on your recommendation and find it rather impressive, the music as well as the performance.


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## MagneticGhost

My photo of that recording has disappeared from up thread. But allow me to just extol it's virtues once more. Definitely one of my all time favourite discs of music. Perfect in every way. I'm glad you enjoyed it.  I find most of Parrott's recordings to be impressive. But there seems to be so little around. I don't know whether this is because he hasn't made many recordings or because they are all out of print.


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## Mandryka

I Got myself a copy of Tallis Scholars Missa Corona Spinea and I think it's wonderful. Web reviews are too negative about the balance, in fact the male voices really create some interesting harmonies. He makes the music unfold ineluctably, it's really special in that way.

Another one I've started to explore is the Missa O Michael - I have the Harry Christophers recording.


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