O Wilhelme, pastor bone by Taverner A2 Applied Music Set Work Notes Intro In 1525, Cardinal Wolsey founded a magnificent

college at Oxford University. It was named Cardinal College (now called Christ Church College) and Wolsey appointed John Taverner, the greatest English composer of the 16th Century as its first Master of the Choristers. Wolsey decreed that the duties of the college choir should include the daily singing of an antiphon (an unaccompanied setting of a religious text) in honour of the 12th century St William, one of Wolseys predecessors as Archbishop of York. Taverners O Wilhelme, pastor bone must have been written for this purpose, probably in 1528, since it begins with a plea to William of York (O Wilhelme) and its second stanza includes a prayer for Cardinal Thomas our founder (Thomam Cardinalem Fundatorem in Bars 36-38) O Wilhelme was intended to be sung a cappella by an all-male choir. Boys would have sung the two highest parts. The counter-tenor and tenor parts are written with vocal tenor clefs (they have a little figure 8 below them) which indicates that the notes sound an octave lower. Word Setting Taverner uses syllabic setting of the text until he reaches the last phrase (aeternae vitae praemium) where the end of the work is highlighted with a melisma in the upper parts. Each phrase of the text has its own melody and texture, sometimes separated from the following phrase by a decisive cadence, although at other times the end of the phrase overlaps with the beginning of the next. Texture Taverner often varies the texture by dividing the choir into different groups. In Bars 1-7, the words O Wilhelme, pastor bone are first sung in two-part counterpoint by high voices then in three parts by the low voices, the melody of the uppermost part being exactly repeated an octave lower. One group being answered by a contrasting group is called antiphony. It enables Taverner to keep in reserve the full impact of his five-part texture until Bar 10. The first three phrases of the text begin with the mainly staggered entries of the parts rather than the voices starting together. These entries are too dissimilar to be described as imitation but the fact that the syllables of the text often do not coincide between the parts helps us to notice that we are listening to a combination of simultaneous melody lines polyphony. Taverner later writes in homophony in Bars 38-42 to highlight the importance of Cardinal Wolsey. The treble phrase in Bars 33-37 is repeated by the bass in the antiphonal response of the next five bars and this same phrase returns to the treble in Bars 43-47. Taverner reserves imitation for the final section of the antiphon. Starting in Bar 56, each voice sings Aeternae vitae praemium to a figure that follws a rising interval with a gentle descent. In Bar 64 the trebles reach top F as the basses descend to the F 3 octaves below. The full range of the choir is being saved for this climactic vision of eternity. Tonality O Wilhelme may sound as if it starts and ends in F with Bars 22-52 in Gm. However, the treble E in Bar 11 does not rise to F. The end of the following phrase the chord of Bb (Bar 12) is not followed by an F chord on the first beat of Bar 13 (a plagal cadence), it is followed by a chord of Am (decorated with F-E in the treble part). Similarly the phrases that end Bars 15-16 and 19-20 are harmonised by

the progression Gm F, producing very modal sounding cadences. This music predates the tonal system and is essentially modal, even though many of the cadences in the first section end in F. The next section may seem like Gm, but the lack of printed F# before the chord of G in the cadences at Bars 31-32 and 52 indicate the modal character of this music. Harmony This piece entirally consists of triads in Root or 1st inversion (sometimes without the 3rd). There is not a single on-the-beat discord in the antiphon. Instead, Taverner makes use of a particulary English devive a 6th falling to a 5th above a static bass. An expressive example of this occurs in Bar 15 where the treble Eb falls to D to the complete a Gm triad. In the next bar, this D is tied over the barline to form a 6th above F which falls to C to complete a chord of F. The most startling example of this technique occurs in Bar 32 where the 6th 5th above the bass (E-D in the mean) is combined with a tierce de Picardie (B natural in the treble) to form a totally unexpected chord of Em in 1st inversion, which becomes a triad of G when the mean falls from E to D. Melody and Rhythm The mean has a compass of an 11th, the bass a 10th and the other 3 parts have a range of a 9th. Phrase lengths are determined by the text and are not governed by a preference for 2/4/8 bar phrases e.g. Bars 33-47 contain three separate five-bar phrases. Taverner combines conjunct motion with generally small leaps to create phrases that often have an elegant arch shape, as in the opening treble melody. If the leap is wider than a 3rd he usually prefers to return to a note within the leap, as in Bar 2 of the opening treble melody. The mean in Bar 22 and 31 is an exception, containing angular lines that are rare in 16th century polyphony. However, leaps are of necessity more frequent in the bass part because it sometimes consists of roots of chords that are a 5th apart. Totally stepwise movement is infrequent, but when it does occur it is particulary expressive. In the treble part of Bars 13-16, the conjunct ascent and descent throws the modal flat 7th (Eb) into relief, vividly expressing the word agone (strife). Whenever this note occurs it draws attention to the text since the melodic lines usually conform to F at the beginning and end of the work, and Gm from the last beat of Bar 22 52. In the treble part of Bars 33-37 and almost complete ascending scale and a conjunct descent (both with E natural) is followed by an Eb on the first syllable of Thomam Cardinalem.