Anonymous no more: Seven uncredited 16th century works from a choirbook created in Arundel & now residing in Lambeth, here given voice for the first time

The Lambeth Anonymous:  Recordings from the Arundel Choirbook; Iken Scholars, Matthew Dunn; RUBICON
Reviewed 3 February 2026

Seven anonymous, hitherto unrecorded works from the Arundel Choirbook now in Lambeth Palace Library now given voice by this group of young singers in a most engaging and illuminating way

Thanks to the vagaries of history, the sources of the music on this lovely disc bandy around rather a variety of names. A pair of choirbooks were likely produced at Arundel College in Sussex in the early 16th century. The college was dissolved in the reign of Henry VIII, but the site was acquired by the Earl of Arundel and has had a variety of uses since.

One of the Arundel choirbooks is now housed in Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and is hence known as the Caius Choirbook though the contents relate to Arundel. The manuscript is an important source for works by Robert Fayrfax and Nicholas Ludford. The other Arundel choirbook is now housed in Lambeth Palace Library and variously known as the Arundel Choirbook and the Lambeth Choirbook. With me so far?

The Arundel (Lambeth) and the Caius Choirbooks are linked by significantly overlapping repertoire, similar exceptional size and layout, and shared scribe. More recently, a manuscript roll was discovered in Arundel Castle, written by the same scribe and containing music by Ludford. It is believed the Caius Choirbook was a presentation copy from Arundel College to St Stephen’s, Westminster (from whence it ended up at Gonville and Caius), while the Arundel (Lambeth) Choirbook remained at the college and is thought to have been used in services there before making its way to Lambeth Palace in the late 16th or early 17th century.

Robert Fayrfax and Nicholas Ludford contributed at least ten of the nineteen pieces in the Arundel (Lambeth) Choirbook and there are seven
anonymous pieces. It is with these seven anonymous works that this disc is concerned.

On the disc, The Lambeth Anonymous, from Rubicon, Matthew Dunn conducts the Iken Scholars in Salve Regina, Ave dei patris filia, Vidi aquam egredientem, Ave mundi spes Maria, Gaude flore virginali and two Magnificats from the Arundel (Lambeth) Choirbook, all anonymous. Recorded in what was likely the 500th anniversary of the creation of the choirbook, the recording took place in the chapel at Lambeth Palace. The works cover four votive antiphons to Mary, and an antiphon for Eastertide as well as the Magnificats. They are nestled in the choirbook between mass settings by Fayrfax and Ludford on either side and followed by three other Marian devotional pieces by Walter Lambe, Fayrfax and Edmund Sturton.

Matthew Dunn formed the Iken Scholars in 2012 to perform programmes of hidden corners of the canon of Renaissance polyphony.  For this disc they use 17 singers and judging from the ensemble’s website, most balance singing with another career. (Rather aptly, soprano Mary Clayton-Kastenholz is the Assistant Rare Books Librarian at Lambeth Palace Library).

Whilst the works are anonymous, Matthew Dunn in his booklet article argues that “The anonymous composer or composers demonstrate a sensitivity to text, a mature handling of mood, and an ability to assemble musical structures of considerable length and complexity. They are deserving of their place in the wider canon of the period, even if they are arguably not of the calibre of the very first flight of composers of their day.”

The disc begins with a lively Salve Regina, the singers demonstrating a fine ability to sing this richly elaborate music with great clarity and sensitivity. Ave dei patris is somewhat more restrained and intimate, with striking use of high and low choirs. Both Magnificats alternate chant and polyphony as was common. Both are impressively rich in their impact with the way the high soprano line is finely floated.  The two have a lot in common but are also strikingly (and rewardingly) different in detail.

Vidi aquam egredientem stands in contrast to the other Lambeth Anonymous compositions on several fronts. It is the only piece not connected with Mary (instead, the text takes the place of the ‘Asperges me’ at the start of mass during Eastertide) and it is almost entirely composed for full choir throughout. It is also the shortest piece on the disc. There is a lively vigour to the music, it must have made a nicely brisk way to begin the service. 

Ave mundi spes Maria begins rather intimately, and in his booklet article Dunn talks about the way the music and the text are interwoven (something that applies to the other works on the disc). This means that there are vigorous passages aplenty too, as well as a glorious closing section. The final work on the disc is Gaude flore virginali brings things to a finely elaborate conclusion.

Lambeth Palace Chapel (Photo: Alex Baker c/o Lambeth Palace website) The ceiling was painted by Leonard Rosoman in 1988.

This disc does exactly what it sets out to do: to illuminate a neglected corner of the repertoire. Because these seven works are anonymous does not necessarily mean that they are deserving of neglect. Quite the opposite. And whilst there are moments where Dunn and his singers do not bring quite the same degree of high polish to the music as some better known ensembles in this repertoire, what they do give us is a lovely sense of poise and the feeling that this music is in their bones. The set is an impressive achievement, covering a remarkable amount of hitherto unknown music.

The music is available from Antico Edition,  and it is to be hoped that this, along with the recording, spurs other choirs to explore the repertoire.

The Lambeth Anonymous:  Recordings from the Arundel Choirbook
Iken Scholars
Matthew Dunn (conductor)
Recorded: Lambeth Palace Chapel, 16–18 May 2025
RUBICON RCD1217 2CDs [45.24, 49.11]