A programme of verse compiled from fifteenth-century manuscripts by Peter Slade
With music arranged and conducted by Trevor Harvey and played by a section of- the Boyd
Neel Orchestra
The cast includes
Henry Hallatt
Peter Slade
Gladys Young
Produced by Geoffrey Dearmer
Every day, in the monasteries of the fifteenth century, Matins took place at midnight, Prime at six, Tierce at nine before High Mass, Sext at noon, None at three, and Vespers at six in the evening. It occurred to certain monks, who were also poet*, to write verses suitable for these Hours and synchronising with our Lord's trial and crucifixion. These MSS. are preserved at the Bodleian Library, Lambeth Palace, York Minster, and other places, and it is from them that Nevile Watts 's book ' Love Songs of Sion ' (from which Mr. Slade has made his selection) has been compiled.
The music has been selected from old French church melodies suitable to the text. Many of these are of the same period, and all share the extreme simplicity and reverence, and reflect the beauty of the lines written by these early English monks, whose names are unrecorded, but whose work survives.