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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • Commemorating Dr. Fayrfax

Dr. Charles Weaver · October 24, 2021

OBERT FAYRFAX, composer of some of the finest pre-Reformation English polyphony, died on 24 October 1521, making today a significant anniversary. My schola marked the date by singing parts of Fayrfax’s Missa Regali at Mass today. While Fayrfax composed several wonderful Mass settings and motets, the music’s length and complexity makes it fairly impractical for parish use, which is why we sang only excerpts. One exception to the massive scale of his music is the hymn I have included here, which I have adapted from the music examples of an anonymous, sixteenth-century composition treatise. This text is the old form (i.e., before Urban VIII) of the hymn for Saturday Vespers.

*  PDF Download • “O Lux Beata Trinitas”
—Underlay and Arrangement for liturgical performance by Charles Weaver.

More on this hymn in a moment. First, I want to reflect on why Fayrfax is so little known. This has to do primarily with the history of the faith in England. It is instructive to reflect on how differently Fayrfax’s music and reputation fared from that of Josquin des Prez, who also died in 1521. Josquin’s music spread throughout Europe thanks to the rise of movable-type music printing in sixteenth-century Venice. Fayrfax’s music remained entirely in manuscript and circulated only in Britain. Josquin stands near the beginning of what we might call the golden age of Franco-Flemish polyphony, especially if we include the Spanish and Italian composers belonging to the succeeding generations. On the other hand, Fayrfax represents not a beginning but an end—the end of a long and continuous culture in England tied to medieval plainchant and piety. For a broad look at English Catholic culture in this period, I recommend Eamon Duffy’s classic The Stripping of the Altars. For a thorough treatment of the musical culture that came to a close with the English reformation, I recommend Frank Llewelyn Harrison’s excellent Music in Medieval Britain.

Fayrfax remained well-regarded long after his death and long after the religious culture surrounding his music had been utterly transformed by the Reformation. In a way, it is a miracle that, thanks to this reputation, we have any of his sacred music left at all, after all the iconoclastic destruction of the sixteenth century. If you haven’t listened to any of his sacred music, you should do so! You are in for a special experience. The complete works have been recorded by The Cardinall’s Musick, and the recordings are easy enough to find online. What makes me particularly enthusiastic about Fayrfax’s music is that the melodies are not tonally directed; they don’t seem to be going anywhere in particular. Consider how Palestrina’s melodies seem to have a logic and a purpose. Fayrfax’s lines are different. They remind me strongly of the way Dom Mocquereau, in his best passages, describes the spirit of plainchant. Fayrfax has the same sense of meandering; there is a logic but it is one that is immaterial and spiritual.

This hymn setting I’m sharing today shows this. I am posting this edition because the other editions available online do not really facilitate a liturgical performance. This makes sense, since this is not really a piece at all. Rather, this music comes from a set of instructions for making faburden, which is a sort of instant polyphony that was a widespread improvisatory practice in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The first verse is a classic example of faburden; it represents the way a choir might have improvised polyphony when singing a hymn together. The chant melody (altered slightly) is in the third line from the top. The two upper parts double the chant at a third and a sixth above, matching the rhythm of the melody except at the cadences. The bottom voice sings alternately in thirds and unisons with the chant melody. In this way,  a rather convincing polyphonic texture results. I could imagine learning to improvise this way as a choir, if everyone were versed enough in the style (the bass is the hardest but not impossible).

In the manuscript, the third verse set here is attributed to Dr. Fayrfax, as an example of more free faburden-like composition. It gives a clear example of his polyphonic style, but on a smaller scale than the Masses and large motets. I have underlaid the words; the original has none but the opening phrase “O lux beata Trinitas.” Notice that the tenor here is a free mix of the tenor and bass of the first verse, with some elaboration. In fact, the chant melody all but disappears! Still, I contend that this music is steeped in the ethos of chant, which will be apparent if you sing through it.

I hope that more parishes can be exposed to this lovely music in our sacred liturgy. Apart from this short hymn setting, I think more parish choirs should consider singing excerpts of larger works. Fayrfax’s motets, whose scores are mostly available online, are often of forbidding length, lasting a quarter of an hour or so. The good thing is that they are sectional. I have found evidence in sixteenth-century manuscripts (and in printed sources as well) that larger works like motets and Masses were frequently excerpted in manuscript sources. Perhaps singing one verse from a magnificat or a large motet could bring this wonderful music to more choirs today. Five hundred years after Fayrfax’s death, his music still can have a place in the same context for which it was composed.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

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Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Tagged With: Pope Urban VIII, Renaissance Polyphony, Urbanite Hymn Reform, Vespers Last Updated: October 25, 2021

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About Dr. Charles Weaver

Dr. Charles Weaver is on the faculty of the Juilliard School, and serves as director of music for St. Mary’s Church. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and four children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Why A “Fugue” Here?
    I believe I know why this plainsong harmonizer created a tiny fugue as the INTRODUCTION to his accompaniment. Take a look (PDF) and tell me your thoughts about what he did on the feast of the Flight of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Egypt (17 February). And now I must go because “tempus fugit” as they say!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Reminder” — Month of October (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Dom Pothier does not belong to the dim past, as the silence which surrounds his name would lead one to believe. Only a few years separate us from the time when—growing old and heavily burdened by trials—Dom Pothier was concentrating his ever keen attention on the study of manuscripts in the Belgian place of retreat where his community had found refuge. For he was the abbot; and there can be no doubt that the cross he wore during those days was a cross of sorrow, though he bore it with a smile.”

— Dom Ermin Vitry, OSB (31-OCT-1936)

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  • New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
  • “Reminder” — Month of October (2025)

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