Taverner, John (EN)

Taverner John, *circa 1490 near Boston (Lincolnshire), †18 October 1545 Boston, English composer. Information in the literature concerning Tavener’s childhood and education is not confirmed by sources. The only record of the musician’s employment at the church in Tattershall (Lincolnshire) in 1524–25 is found in Bishop J. Longland’s visitation records, in which he is referred to as ‘clericus socius’. In 1526, he accepted Bishop Longland’s offer of a position as Informator Choristarum at Cardinal Wolsey’s newly founded Cardinal’s College in Oxford (now Christ Church). In 1530, he left the declining foundation and moved to Boston, where he became a member of the parish church choir and the Marian brotherhood associated with it. In Boston, he probably amassed a considerable fortune, and in 1545 he became a member of the city council. Reports of Taverner’s involvement in Henry VIII’s religious policy are not reliable. The composer’s biography and work inspired P.M. Davies, who dedicated one of his operas to him.

Taverner was the most outstanding English composer of the first half of the 16th century. Features of his work such as ornate counterpoint and complex rhythmics – introduced both in melodic lines and in relations between voices (e.g., combining triple meter with duple meter) – still belong to the style characteristic of the previous generation of composers. More recent trends in Taverner’s compositional technique can be seen in his use of imitation, homorhythmic texture, and antiphonal contrasting of voice groups. The melodics of Taverner’s works is characterized by a wide ambitus and melismatics (especially in 2- and 3-voice parts). His favourite techniques in shaping the melodic line include sequential repetition of sections and ostinato (especially in the bassline). In addition to imitations, usually quite short and free, the composer also introduces canon (in the Masses O Michael and Small Devotion) and quasi-canonical rotations. Among Taverner’s most valuable works are his arrangements of the ordinarium missae cycles (traditionally in England, these do not include the Kyrie and omit long sections of the Credo text). Alongside monumental 6-voice masses (Gloria tibi Trinitas, Corona spinea, O Michael) based in cantus firmus, he composed works in less ornate counterpoint; imitative parts are interspersed with homorhythmic sections, often introduced antiphonal (Mean Mass for 5 voices and Playn Song Mass for 4 voices). Two masses for 5 voices (Mater Christi and Small Devotion, whose original title may have been S. Wilhelme devocio) feature elements of parody technique. In the opening and closing sections of these masses (consistently only in the first of them), the composer quotes analogous fragments of his polyphonic antiphons. Particularly noteworthy is the Missa Western Wynde for 4 voices – probably the first English mass cycle to use material from a popular secular work. The melody of the song is quoted 36 times (nine times in each part), without interruption, in the original rhythm by the soprano, tenor, or bass. Stylistic diversity also characterizes the arrangement of votive antiphons, including both ornate or moderately ornate works (Ave Dei patris filia for 5 voices with cantus firmus and Te Deum, Gaude plurimum for 5 voices), and compositions in which a simpler syllabic style prevails (Mater Christi, Christe Jesu pastor bone, Sub tuum praesidium, Fac nobis). The remaining liturgical works (Magnificats, responsories, sequences, Te Deum) are based on a cantus firmus introduced in equal values and usually intended for alternatim performance, with Taverner arranging the solo parts (responsory Hodie nobis coelorum) or choir (responsories Dum transisset and Audivi vocem). Preserved secular compositions by Taverner are among his most ornate contrapuntal works. The instrumental version of the Sanctus fragment (to the words: “in nomine Domini”) from the Gloria tibi Trinitas Mass, is of exceptional importance in the history of English music, as it gave rise to a popular musical genre for the viola – a type of instrumental motet, called In nomine, and based on this cantus firmus. 

Literature: H.B. Collins John Taverner’s Masses and John Taverner – Part II, “Music and Letters” V, 1924 and VI, 1925; D. Stevens The Background of the “In Nomine”, “The Monthly Musical Record” LXXXIV, 1954; D. Stevens John Taverner, in: Essays in Musicology, commemorative book of D. Plamenac, ed. G. Reese and R.J. Snow, Pittsburgh 1969; N. Davison The “Western Wind” Masses, “The Musical Quarterly” LVII, 1971; H. Benham The Music of Taverner. A Liturgical Study, “The Music Review” XXXIII, 1972; H. Benham The Formal Design and Construction of Taverner’s Works, “Musica Disciplina” XXVI, 1972; N. Davison Structure and Unity in Four Free-Composed Tudor Masses, “The Music Review” XXXIV, 1973; I. Spector John Taverner and the Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas, “The Music Review” XXXV, 1974; C. Hand John Taverner. His Life and Music, London 1978; D.S. Josephson John Taverner, Tudor Composer, Ann Arbor 1979; Ph. Brett Homage to Taverner in Byrd’s Masses, “Early Music” IX, 1981; H. Benham John Taverner. His Life and Music, Aldershot 2003; F. Knights, M. Rodruez, P. Padilla O splendor gloriae: Taverner or Tye?, “Early Music” XLIX, 4, 2021; W.J. Porter Early English Composers and the Credo: Emphasis as Interpretation in Sixteenth-Century Music, New York–Abingdon 2022.