Saturday 21 March 2020

Adrian Batten c.1591-c.1637

So today I was supposed to be singing Evensong in Cranford, Heathrow. Amongst other music we were due to sing Batten's Fourth Service, which most of us know. Adrian Batten is a really interesting composer, not least because of his dedication to preserving the works of his contemporaries, whilst much of his own is sadly lost. I felt he was an excellent example of working for the common good which so many people are currently dedicating themselves to during this difficult time.

Adrian Batten was Organist and Vicar-Choral of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's, London between the Reformation and the Civil War in the 1640s. As an Anglican church composer he was active during an important period of English church music which saw the birth of the "verse anthem" where music was predominantly in English.

Biography
Batten was born in Salisbury, and was a chorister and then organ scholar at Winchester Cathedral. Batten remained with the cathedral choir after his voice had changed, as evidenced by graffiti carved into the wall of Bishop Gardiner's chantry that reads "Adrian Battin: 1608". (Don't get any ideas Choral Scholars!!) In 1614, he moved to London to become a Vicar Choral of Westminster Abbey, and was apparently still at Westminster in 1625; The Lord Chamberlain's Records for 1625 show that at the funeral of James I (at which Orlando Gibbons was organist and master of the music) Batten is described as a "singingman of Westminster".

Verse Anthems
In religious music, the verse anthem is distinct from the motet or anthem for full choir and alternates between sections for solo voice or voices and the full choir. The organ provided accompaniment in liturgical settings, but viols took the accompaniment outside of the church. During the Reformation church services were given in the vernacular and for the first time congregations actually had access too - and mostly understood - the service. The Word of God gained significant importance and liturgical music was intended to pass on a message, rather than ornament a Priest's spoken words.

In the 'verses', solo voices were expected to ornament their parts for expressive effect, allowing the text to be expressed more clearly. The 'full choir' sections providing contrast in volume and texture, (For the choirmaster they were useful too: the choir only had to learn a small part of the anthem, leaving the hardest passages to a soloist to learn on their own, reducing rehearsal time!) Verse anthems developed and were very popular during the early 17th to the middle of the 18th centuries.


The Batten Organbook
At the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 enthusiasm for the older 'motet' style of anthem returned, but composers continued to write verse anthems, often on a grand scale - particularly for the Chapel Royal. Notable composers of verse anthems include William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Weelkes, Thomas Tomkins, John Bull and Pelham Humfrey. Although composing at the end of this period Batten was heavily influenced by it. To supplement his income while at Westminster Abbey Batten worked as a music copyist. The Abbey's account books record payments to Batten for copying works of Weelkes, Tallis and Tomkins. Batten is credited with the preservation of many pieces of church music of the time, compiled in the Batten Organbook (now in possession of St. Michael's College, Tenbury), a 498-page volume in his handwriting containing many popular works of that time which Batten scored for the organ. The Batten Organbook is the only surviving source for many pieces of the time. The Organbook has few of Batten’s own works, so ironically much of Batten's own music has been lost. Batten is therefore less well known than some of his contemporaries but he was a prolific composer. A number of works exist only in manuscript at various British libraries and cathedrals, having never been published.

Music
"Deliver Us O God" is possibly a little to apt right now, as we are all struggling with our new reality and the fear of this awful virus, but the Fourth Service is lovely. If you have a variety of voice parts in your home you might even muster an ensemble! Here is the Magnificat, again very appropriate for Mother's Day too. The music can be downloaded from Choral Wiki here.

For those concerned about copyright, these may be downloaded for personal use. (There are messages on each Choral Wiki page regarding appropriate copyright rules for each composer.) 



The Nunc Dimittis is below:-





Notes

  • The Oxford Book of Tudor Anthems can be purchased from many online booksellers - if you wish to make a difference to a charity and take the strain off Amazon, Oxfam are selling copies here.
  • To download the PDF score you have to look for the little icon and double click. Should open in Adobe Acrobat or your choice of PDF reader.




  • Kids may be amused to learn that Blogger autocorrects the "Nunc Dimittis" to "Nunchuk Down".....!


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