Jhone Angus, Monk of Dunfermline & Scottish Reformation Music

by Jamie Reid-Baxter, Michael Lynch, Patricia E. Dennison

The Reformation that started with Luther and swept through sixteenth-century Europe also swept away the complex polyphonic music of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Jhone Angus was one of the composers who wrote the simpler but beautiful tunes that could be sung by the congregations of the Reformed Kirk. The book starts with an outline of the growth of Protestantism in Europe by Michael Lynch, followed by its effects on Scotland and in Dunfermline, Angus's home town by Patricia Dennison. Jamie Reid-Baxter tells the story of church music before and after the Reformation, and how the music of Angus and his fellow composers was preserved in the part-books of Angus's friend and ex-monk Thomas Wode. The Wode Psalter, prepared in St. Andrews, is illustrated by delightful designs and contains the canticles set to music by Angus which are featured in the accompanying compact disc.

71 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011