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• Dufay, Guillaume / Frye, Walter: 3 Antiphons

Dufay, Guillaume / Frye, Walter: 3 Antiphons

from the Trent Codices for 3 voices or instruments.

Of these three fifteenth-century antiphons, Walter Frye´s Ave regina coelorum seems to have had the justifiable reputation of a classic of its time, to judge by the large number of sources in which it is found; it appears in at least ten fifteenth-century manuscripts in three parts, and in three others in four parts;' there is also a keyboard transcription in the Buxheim Book. Many of these sources consist primarily of secular music, and in fact the style of the work is closer to that of contemporary chansons than that of most liturgical music; unlike some other antiphons of the period (e. g. Dufay´s Salve nos, domine printed here) it does not use any plainsong. It may well have been intended for domestic devotional purposes.
All three pieces are printed here after the Trent Codices: nos. 1 and 3 from Trent 90, where they are 1086 and 997 respectively, and no. 2 from Trent 87, no. 138. The original note values have been halved in no. 1 but quartered in the two Dufay pieces, which are probably a couple of decades older, dating from around 1430, as against perhaps 1450 for Frye´s piece. Editorial accidentals appear above the stave, applying to the one note only. The original accidentals, printed on the stave, are taken as applying to the whole bar unless corrected.
The smooth, mellifluous nature of these pieces, so satisfying to sing, makes them surprisingly suitable for instruments such as recorders or viols, provided of course that the playing style is appropriate.