Walsingham

Pilgrimage is an age-old quest of spiritual devotion, where people journey, often on foot, to a sacred place. It is present in many of the world’s major religions and cultures and provides the opportunity to connect with both earthly beauty and higher divinity: to reconcile, refresh or restore. Pilgrims and their destinations have contributed to a flowering of culture of their own, as is the case in the small English village of Walsingham.

As if emerging through the misty plains of Norfolk, this programme begins mysteriously with a set of anonymous variations from the last of the Matthew Holmes’ lute books (Nn. 6.36). They are one of two sets of variations on Walsingham appearing in this treasured manuscript, which was penned sometime between 1605–1615. They hint of an earlier time, with delicate counterpoint punctuating the cadences, whilst lyrical and idiomatic scales and arpeggios reflect the emerging French style brisé that was popular in the works of Ballard and his contemporaries in the early 17th century. They are the only set of variations in C minor and gently launch us on a musical journey that contains further variations by another seven lute composers.

Noblewoman Richeldis de Faverches experienced multiple apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the 11th century, and mystical elements are reflected through The Voice, also known as The Ghoste, The Spyrites or The Spyrites Tune. It is a work by William Byrd, probably arranged from a pre-existing tune and present in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, in which Byrd is the best-represented composer. This lute version is from the Folger ‘Dowland’ manuscript and sits beautifully on the instrument.

Anthony de Countie is listed as the ‘royal lewter’ for the first period of Elizabeth I’s Tudor court, making Anthony Pavyn perhaps the oldest piece in this programme. Evoking medieval times of the priory with its open fifth chords, the melancholic F minor harmony promotes a deepening contemplation with hymn-like solemnity.

When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, there was much grief surrounding the loss of sacred places throughout England, and the priory in turn was disbanded in 1538. It is thought that a song emerged as a lament for the destruction of the Marian shrine, and numerous poems exist around the ballad, including one by Sir Walter Raleigh entitled ‘As you came from the Holy Land of Walsingham’.

Both the galliard and variations of the Walsingham tune exist in the second of the Holmes lute books, compiled in the golden age of English lute music around 1595–1600. The bulk of the settings for lute begin with an A-flat major chord and end in F major, as is the case in Francis Cutting’s Walsingham. The encoded mysticism of seven variations, and this rather perfect Renaissance numerology, is found in four of the seven variation sets in this recording.

If this programme were a Renaissance archway, at its height would stand the works of Edward Collard. This rarely heard, and largely unrecorded, composer succeeded John Johnson at the Elizabethan court in 1598, perhaps only for a year. His relatively small output of nine lute pieces gives a tantalising glimpse into his deep understanding of his instrument and sophisticated knowledge of both polyphony and ornamentation.

By contrast, one of the most recognisable composers of the English Renaissance is Anthony Holborne. As it fell on a Holly Eve is a line from Edmund Spenser’s poem The Shepherd’s Calendar. Holborne’s Walsingham from the same manuscript is the shortest of all the lute solos inspired by the ballad: a single, purely melodic version that opens with his idiomatic six-note chord, which demands that ‘time be taken’, perhaps symbolic of the Renaissance ideal that grief is not able to be rushed.

John Dowland, the most represented and influential English lute composer, was shaped by his travels to the continent and employment in Christian IV’s Denmark. His unrivalled sense of melody in solos such as Galliard on Walsingham and Sir John Souch’s Galliard has seen him become one of the most beloved composers of his time, and ours. The Pavan in G minor is closely related to his most famous work, the Lachrimae Pavan. Finishing this grand rondo is Dowland’s Walsingham. Like Marchant’s variations, the higher key of G major symbolises hope. Perhaps musical contemplation of this haunting tune mirrors today’s resurgence of pilgrimage to the Norfolk village. For no longer is Walsingham a place of loss or division, but an ecumenical destination, gathering people of all faiths and nations to reflect on finding one’s own holy ground, or place of peace.