The Full Score
Henry VIII’S choir comes to life; Shostakovich film score revived; Igor Levit’s double delight
How might a Tudor mass have sounded in the era itself? A new surroundsound installation at The Vyne, a National Trust property in Hampshire, has been set up to answer just that by recreating a service as Henry VIII himself might have heard it. New recordings have been made specifically for the purpose – when visitors enter the house’s 16th-century chapel, they are now immersed in three-part polyphony by the composer Nicholas Ludford (see right) in an authentic setting, accompanied by the chants and shufflings of the priest and his various assistants by the altar. ‘What people will hear makes use of the text and chants that Henry VIII would have been familiar with,’ says Bangor University’s Professor John Harper, who led the research behind the project. ‘But this was a time of religious change, and 25 years later, mass of this kind had been swept away in England.’
The new installation was not done on a whim, but is based on a documented visit that Henry made to the property in 1535. During a tour known as the ‘summer progress’, the king and his wife Anne Boleyn stayed at The Vyne as guests of William Sandys, his Lord Chamberlain – the main object of the tour was to drum up support for the king among England’s influential and wealthy following his decision to break away from the Roman Catholic Church. On such travels, the royal entourage would have included the 12 ‘Gentlemen’ and ‘Children’ of the Chapel Royal, who would have sung mass in the chapel.
It is one such mass – a Lady Mass – that has been recreated in the chapel, thanks to recordings of Ludford’s setting that have been made by Trinity Boys Choir. Those, plus the priest’s chants and other ambient sounds, are played through speakers placed around the chapel.
Though we don’t know if it was Ludford’s setting that was sung during Henry VIII’S visit, it is at least a close representation of what the monarch would have heard. And, says Harper, the project could have wider implications. ‘Working on this project has opened up all sorts of questions about performing in a space like this, such as whether the choir would have all sung together around a lectern or whether they would have stood separately. It’s fascinating.’