The earliest songbook in England

Anyone interested in learning more about music cultivated in medieval England will be delighted that this impressive edition has now become available. A major work of scholarship, John Stevens's project to produce a critical edition of the later Cambridge songs (Cambridge, University Library, Ms. Ff.i.17 (1)) lay unfinished at his death; the task of completion was undertaken by a host of academics too numerous to mention here, but each of whose particular expertise-palaeography, poetry, translation, bibliography, performance-is palpable in this carefully compiled volume. Their individual contributions are outlined in Christopher Page's foreword. Many readers will already be familiar with the music of the later Cambridge songs through editions of concordant manuscripts (such as the Carmina Burana, the Moosburg Gradual and sources of Notre Dame polyphony), earlier published references to the source, or from Gothic Voices' recording of Stevens's editions (The earliest songbook in England, Hyperion, CDA67177 , rec 1999).

The later Cambridge songs are found in a manuscript dating from 1180-c.1230, reproduced in full at the end of this publication; the source should not be confused with the collection of 11th-century lyrics known as the Cambridge songs, which originated at Canterbury (see the facsimile edited by Karl Breul (Cambridge, 1915 ) or Jan. M. Ziolkowski's edition (New York, 1994 )). Stevens makes a case in his introduction for a West Midlands provenance, somewhere in the area of Leicester, and perhaps Leicester Abbey itself. The introductory material is accessible, detailed and illuminating, and each song is then presented in manuscript order, complete with lengthy criticism relating to matters of subject, textual translation, editorial amendments, concordant sources, presentation, poetic metre, bibliography, and a wider commentary that deals with liturgical function or other matters specific to the song in question. The attention paid to each item is painstaking, and it is particularly useful to be able to compare each transcription with the monochrome facsimile. For those learning or teaching aspects of medieval notation there can be no better tool.

A comparison with Gothic Voices' recording of selections from this source reveals the effectiveness of the transcriptions, even though Christopher Page and his singers occasionally make slightly different editorial decisions. Many performers will be used to the non-mensural transcription style, entirely appropriate for this repertory, and those who have not used it before will quickly adapt. Stevens's case for isosyllabic interpretation of the melodies is well made by Page's recording. The effect of spending roughly equal time on each syllable of text is a feeling of underlying pulse, even in the freer, more rhapsodic songs, and poetic and musical structures are highlighted by performance in this manner. In general, the notation is clear and facilitates performance, especially in the monophonic items. In the two- and three-part works, the vertical alignment of concordances is not always precise, presumably an inherent problem with the music processing software. There are also some unfortunate typographical errors, consisting of missing leger lines above and below staves. This problem is found in Diastematica vocis armonia, Pax in terris, Flos floriger and Ecce torpet probitas. Comparison with the facsimile will enable performers to make their own decisions about the missing details in the manuscript that have been addressed by the editors. I prefer the continued use of a B♭ in Diastematica vocis armonia, which disappears from the final stave in the source, for example. (Gothic Voices also maintain the accidental for the whole of the refrain.)

There is a striking variety of musical and poetic style in this modest collection of music, and the music as a whole repays close study. Of the 35 pieces, 25 were furnished with musical notation by the original scribes, and unfilled staves were provided for some of the other lyrics. Several of the songs make use of a curious 'wave-note', Stevens's term for a form of neume peculiar to the later Cambridge songs that, given the variety of contexts in which it is found in the manuscript, may have indicated some type of rhythmic, timbral or melodic decoration by...