Background
This assembly of data relating to ‘Anthems’ is a first
attempt at drawing together strands of patient research carried out by
numerous members of the
West Gallery Music Association
over the past years. It is hoped that by degrees this will metamorphose
into a much larger searchable on-line database, which in time may
include both printed and manuscript sources. Possibly the merging of
these two ideas may prove impracticable, and end up as two separate
identities. Certainly, however, the need for both is becoming
increasingly pressing as more research is carried out.
The Hymn Tune Index
The Hymn Tune Index (HTI) was defined at the onset as:
“a comprehensive
census of tunes associated with English-language hymns
found in sources printed in or before the year 1820.”
The Anthems Database
The Anthems Database (ADB) might therefore be defined as:
"a census of music associated with English-language Anthems found in sources printed in or before the year
[1850]"
Clearly, there can be no attempt within these pages to
emulate the scope of the HTI, however desirable that would be, for such
a site is being developed professionally by a team of researchers under
the guidance of Nicholas Temperley.
Even a quick perusal of the
Scope of the HTI quickly reveals the enormity of such a project and
the vaste amount of resources required, both financial and human. It is
beyond the scope of members of the Association even to contemplate
researching all known printed sources. Whilst the HTI is there to guide
us in that the descriptions of printed sources are well defined and
incline reference to anthems and musical matter other than psalm and
hymn tunes, all that we can hope to do, at least for the time being, is
to record what we find where and when we find it.
The dedication of a number of researchers, who can
find the time to do so, is then required methodically to target the
publications of the more well-known composers and compilers of the west
gallery period in order to extract additional information to include
here, and eventually for the database itself.
Manuscript sources need also to be analysed, using the
same methodology. Those anthems which can be completely identified can
be included in this exercise, but it is possible that a future decision
will be to include them in a separate database.
Manuscripts as a whole have in the past received
little analytical attention; even the HTI took the decision to exclude
their hymns and psalm settings from publication.
These web pages are intended as an aide memoire
for those researching anthems, and to give guidance for those who
encounter many such manuscript entries with little or no attributions as
to music or text. Even early sources give scant information on such
matters, compilers and composes no doubt hoping to gain some kudos for
the writings of others. Academia never changes, for with the advent of
the world wide web students are happy to use others’ material, and
plagiarism is on the rise.
Anthems
An anthem is defined as a through-composed setting of a
sacred prose text. Set pieces (through-composed settings of metrical
texts) are excluded Francis,
WHY?, as are chanting tunes which are
not through-composed. The intention would be to include non-sacred
pieces of music, perhaps limited to glees and part songs (depends on
definitions) because a number of composers are known to have used sacred
and ‘semi-religeous’ texts, being those, as the HTI puts it:
“[which are]
vaguely Christian in reference, while their prevailing
character is unitarian, deist, humanist, masonic, ethical,
philanthropic, patriotic, or sentimental.
To exclude such texts by definite criteria would be not
only dauntingly difficult, but also historically unjustified: many
Christian communities intermixed such texts in their worship, especially
during the last hundred years of our period.”
In many
ways, therefore, what is included here follows the criteria set out by
the HTI.
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