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the other . In them, the piece has been systematically revised as though to adapt
it to a text, or to a different text from that of the alternative version 15.
All three In Nomines continued in popularity through the first half of the
seventeenth century. Filmer 1 also contains the two six-part pavans by William
White, but Hamessley identifies the copyist of these as from the Caroline
period, since he also wrote music by ‘Mr. Flecknall’ [Richard Flecknoe],
Richard Portman, John Wilson, Thomas Holmes and ‘Mr. [Estienne] Noe’ at
the end of section five. 16
There is a clue that Och 463-7 was compiled after the accession of James I
through the presence of an anonymous five-part motet Felices Britones (ff. 12v-
13r). 17 The text praises James and his family and the new unity of Scotland,
England and Ireland. Its origins have not been traced, but it may belong to
civic pageantry or a royal ‘progress’ rather than a church service. ‘Nicolas
Lanier’ appears on a stub, presumably the wind player (d. 1612) and recipient
of leases granted by Elizabeth I. This snippet gives every appearance of being
culled from such a document.
Another contemporary set is GB-Ob, MSS Mus. Sch. C.45-50. This is
principally the work of two scribes, with small contributions by two others,
none of whom has been identified. The first scribe (A) began three numbered
series two in five parts and the third in six. The first opens with thirteen motets
by Ferrabosco the elder, not quite matching the individual selections in GB-
Och 78-82, 463-7 and Filmer 1, but all pieces are duplicated in one or other of
those sources. The second group begins with instrumental pieces: five-part
fantasias VdGS nos. 1-4 by Thomas Lupo, followed by Coprario’s [‘Io son
ferito amore’] (VdGS 2) and ‘Fugga dunque la luce’ (VdGS 20). Canto (C45)
and basso (C50) parts of the last of these were copied by a third hand to
complete the work of scribe A in this group. Scribe B continues the work of A,
but not necessarily in conjunction with him. Following the above pieces he
wrote another five madrigals/fantasias by Coprario:
37. ‘Lume tuo fugace’ VdGS 4
41. ‘Occhi miei’ VdGS 46
42. ‘Caggia fuoco’ VdGS 19
43. ‘Fugi se sai fuggire’ VdGS 38
44. ‘Deh cara anima’ VdGS 32
together with two madrigals by Ferrabosco the elder and one by Marenzio
(nos. 38-40). After this he added more music in the gaps between the sections,
much of which is incomplete. Bass parts to six fantasias a5 by Lupo—the four
copied by Scribe A and additionally VdGS nos. 5 and 11—are followed by
eight motets by Ferrabosco the younger. Treble parts to five of these are
placed later, between the main sections two and three (leaving three without
the treble), to which group are added treble and bass to Incipit lamentatio, treble
to Omnes amice eius and bass to Non est qui consoletur. Five complete six-part
15 Paul Doe (ed.), ‘Elizabethan Consort Music: I’, Musica Britannica XLIV, London 1979,
191. 16 LHa, i, 106-7.
17 I am very grateful to John Milsom for alerting me to this piece and for corresponding
about it.
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