ROADLY SPEAKING, the continental composers of the High Renaissance—such as Palestrina, Victoria, Nanino, Guerrero, and Lassus—followed the same rules and “spoke the same language” whether they hailed from Spain, Italy, Holland, or Germany. Not even the greatest scholar of Renaissance polyphony can distinguish between their counterpoint and harmonies, although each one certainly exhibited individual propensities. (For instance, Guerrero seemed to have loved canons more than his colleagues.) In graduate school, the professors called referred to this as a pan-European style. 1
England Was Unique • But England had a polyphonic style all its own. There was nothing remotely like it on the continent. In particular, English composers loved to ‘float’ voices high above all the others, creating effects that were truly haunting. For myself, I cannot think of any music greater than the following section—55 seconds long—of the Salve Regina by William Cornysh (d. 1523), a Roman Catholic English composer:
Sad Development • But then Anglicanism swept over England, wreaking havoc. The Anglicans murdered those who refused to forsake the Bride of Christ. Even the most illustrious citizens were killed: Saint Thomas More (†1535); Saint Philip Howard (†1595); Saint Robert Southwell (†1595); Saint Edmund Campion (†1581); Saint John Fisher (†1535). Without mercy, the Anglicans pillaged monasteries and convents, slaughtering monks and nuns in a bloodthirsty way.
What Might Have Been! • We can only dream about the fabulous composers England might have produced had it not been for the Protestant revolution. Musicologists usually consider England’s High Renaissance composers to be crowned by the Three T’s: Tallis, Taverner, and Tye. If memory serves, all three were tainted by Protestantism. Later on would come William Byrd (d. 1623), but his music is generally considered to be a ‘bridge’ between the High Renaissance and early Baroque, similar to Claudio Monteverdi (d. 1643). For myself, the Three T’s cannot compare to, for example, the masterpieces of Father Victoria (d. 1611) or Father Guerrero (d. 1599). I’m not trying to be pugnacious—I’m just giving my honest views. As Father Valentine would say: Take ’em or leave ’em.
The text for “Salve Regina” used by William Cornysh is not identical to the one we pray. For instance:
Virgo Mater Ecclésiæ,
ætérnæ porta glóriæ,
esto nobis refúgium
apud Patrem et Fílium.O CLEMENS
Virgo clemens, Virgo pia,
Virgo dulcis, o María,
exáudi preces ómnium
ad te pie clamántium.O PIA
Funde preces tuo Nato
crucifíxo, vulneráto
et pro nobis flagelláto,
spinis puncto, fel potáto.O DULCIS MARIA SALVE
Translated into English:
O Virgin Mother of the Church,
gate of eternal glory,
be a refuge for us
with the Father and the Son.O CLEMENT
Virgin clement, Virgin loving,
Virgin sweet, O Mary,
heed the prayers of all those
who cry lovingly to thee.O LOVING
Pour forth prayers to thy Son,
for us crucified, wounded,
scourged, pierced by thorns
and given gall to drink.O SWEET MARY HAIL
1 To explain this another way: No scholar could tell you whether a piece was composed by Guerrero or Palestrina simply by listening to it. (Here we are speaking of a piece they have never heard before.) But that only applies to the High Renaissance. For instance, a piece by Josquin could be discerned just by hearing it. The same is true of someone like Ockeghem.
