The world of Reformation Britain: seen and heard in the Wode Psalter
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Divinity
Abstract
For the very first time the eight surviving Part-books that comprise the Wode Psalter will be brought from Washington, Dublin, London and Edinburgh to be seen together in exhibition during the 2011 Edinburgh International Festival. The Psalter will also be heard: a selection of music from the Psalter will be performed in two concerts and recorded on disc.
These music manuscripts offer an ideal mirror for reflecting the multi-faceted world of Reformation Britain. In addition to their music, they reveal new insights about religious worship and devotion, poetry, painting, patronage and material culture as well as providing an illustrated diary written during the reigns of Mary, Queen of Scots, and James VI and I.
The Part-books were compiled between 1562 and 1592 by Thomas Wode, vicar of St Andrews, to contain four-part settings of metrical psalms, though other songs and instrumental music were also added. Wode's efforts placed Scotland within the strong European Reformed tradition of psalm-singing; he also helped preserve the literary and musical compositions of English radical reformers which were rejected within the established Church of England.
The major musical significance of the manuscripts, which provide the sole source for most of their contents, has long been recognised but the Georgetown University Part-book has only recently become known and its music not fully incorporated. However, scholars from other disciplines have been slow to exploit the Psalter's many and varied treasures. As a consequence, the Wode Psalter presents an excellent multi-disciplinary focus for scholarly endeavour and one that unites researchers from different institutional backgrounds. It also offers an ideal medium for public engagement with the world of Reformation Britain, allowing it to be seen and heard in physical and electronic formats.
Prior to the exhibition and feeding into its interpretative framework, a virtual research forum will facilitate the compilation of a research agenda for the Psalter. The forum mounted on the password-protected area of the project website will call upon the scholars and practitioners interested in working with the Psalter who have been brought into the specially-created academic network. Four online workshops using digital images from the Part-books and short commissioned articles to stimulate discussion will examine the Psalter's religious, literary and musical aspects and Wode's 'illustrated diary'. A final workshop will consider the Psalter in its entirety.
Though the exhibition and concerts will be transitory, the project's legacy will be permanent. A CD of the Psalter's music will be commercially available so the Part-books can continue to be heard and the Psalter seen in printed form through the exhibition booklet. The online legacy will include an educational pack consisting of a research-skills online seminar on the theme of Thomas Wode and his 'musical diary'. The open access area of the project website will also host the specially-designed permanently available webpages containing a selection of digital images from the Psalter and material drawn from the exhibition and the virtual research forum.
In these varied ways the Wode Psalter will allow the world of Reformation Britain to be seen and heard once again.
These music manuscripts offer an ideal mirror for reflecting the multi-faceted world of Reformation Britain. In addition to their music, they reveal new insights about religious worship and devotion, poetry, painting, patronage and material culture as well as providing an illustrated diary written during the reigns of Mary, Queen of Scots, and James VI and I.
The Part-books were compiled between 1562 and 1592 by Thomas Wode, vicar of St Andrews, to contain four-part settings of metrical psalms, though other songs and instrumental music were also added. Wode's efforts placed Scotland within the strong European Reformed tradition of psalm-singing; he also helped preserve the literary and musical compositions of English radical reformers which were rejected within the established Church of England.
The major musical significance of the manuscripts, which provide the sole source for most of their contents, has long been recognised but the Georgetown University Part-book has only recently become known and its music not fully incorporated. However, scholars from other disciplines have been slow to exploit the Psalter's many and varied treasures. As a consequence, the Wode Psalter presents an excellent multi-disciplinary focus for scholarly endeavour and one that unites researchers from different institutional backgrounds. It also offers an ideal medium for public engagement with the world of Reformation Britain, allowing it to be seen and heard in physical and electronic formats.
Prior to the exhibition and feeding into its interpretative framework, a virtual research forum will facilitate the compilation of a research agenda for the Psalter. The forum mounted on the password-protected area of the project website will call upon the scholars and practitioners interested in working with the Psalter who have been brought into the specially-created academic network. Four online workshops using digital images from the Part-books and short commissioned articles to stimulate discussion will examine the Psalter's religious, literary and musical aspects and Wode's 'illustrated diary'. A final workshop will consider the Psalter in its entirety.
Though the exhibition and concerts will be transitory, the project's legacy will be permanent. A CD of the Psalter's music will be commercially available so the Part-books can continue to be heard and the Psalter seen in printed form through the exhibition booklet. The online legacy will include an educational pack consisting of a research-skills online seminar on the theme of Thomas Wode and his 'musical diary'. The open access area of the project website will also host the specially-designed permanently available webpages containing a selection of digital images from the Psalter and material drawn from the exhibition and the virtual research forum.
In these varied ways the Wode Psalter will allow the world of Reformation Britain to be seen and heard once again.
Publications
Dawson J
(2017)
'The Word did everything': Readers, Singers and the Protestant Reformation in Scotland c.1560-c.1638
in Scottish Church History
| Title | Concerts performing music from the Wode Partbooks |
| Description | The main concert held in conjunction with the Singing the Reformation exhibition was held in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, where music from the Wode Partbooks was performed by the Dunedin Consort and Fretwork and the Renaissance Singers of the University of Edinburgh under the direction of Dr Noel O'Regan of the Wode Psalter Project. It was attended by 310 people. Another concert was given in Aberdeen on 8 Oct 2011 with 280 attending. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2011 |
| Impact | The concerts showcased some of the music that is available on the Wode Collection CD produced by Linn Records. |
| URL | http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-the-wode-collection.aspx |
| Title | Singing the Reformation Exhibition |
| Description | A major exhibition entitled Singing the Reformation that ran 6 Aug - 28 Oct 2011 in Edinburgh University Library - exhibition booklet available as pdf [see URL below] Containing 46 separate exhibits, including all eight surviving Partbooks of the Wode Psalter brought from across the world and united for the first time since the seventeenth century. Touring version of exhibition went to Dundee 5-6 Nov 2011 and Belfast 13-14 April 2012 |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2011 |
| Impact | Exhibition was visited by 4438 people and had significant coverage in TV radio and press and via the social media of Twitter, Wordpress and Facebook. |
| URL | http://www.wode.div.ed.ac.uk./pdf/booklet.pdf |
| Title | Singing the Reformation Exhibition Booklet |
| Description | An illustrated colour booklet of 24pp with a detachable double-sided full spread cover with illustrations from the Wode Partbooks containing the description of the exhibits and background information relating to various aspects of the exhibition. This research-led exhibition booklet written the Wode Psalter Team was originally produced for the Singing the Reformation exhibition as a free guide but works equally well as a stand alone summary of key points about the Wode Partbooks and their Reformation context. Over 2,000 copies have been freely distributed at the exhibition, the engagement events and subsequent lectures. The booklet in pdf form is freely available online. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2011 |
| Impact | The free booklet and its online version has spread far beyond the original exhibition and project and has been distributed in school and university classes, churches, conferences and Open Days as well as being available worldwide in its pdf format. |
| URL | http://www.wode.div.ed.ac.uk./pdf/booklet.pdf |
| Title | The Wode Collection CD |
| Description | The Wode Collection: 16c music by Scottish, English & Continental Composers CD produced and sold by Linn Records |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2011 |
| Impact | The CD and Singing the Reformation Exhibition were the focus of an entire edition of the Radio 3 Early Music Programme. The psalm music has been heard by those purchasing the CD and has also featured as the background music for several Radio Scotland programmes |
| URL | http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-the-wode-collection.aspx |
| Description | One of Scotland's cultural treasures, the Wode Partbooks, their music and their Reformation world have been introduced and made better known to audiences within Scotland, the UK and the wider world. This has enriched awareness of the Scottish and British heritage and the metrical psalms' continued importance across the continents. Particular interest groups, such as choirs, church groups, embroiderers and history enthusiasts have been actively engaged through choral and stitching workshops, public psalm-singing events. |
| Exploitation Route | The information. especially via the website and Iphone App, and the full digital versions of the Wode Partbooks and the performing versions for amateur choirs are encouraging a further revival of interest in metrical psalm-singing and in the Scottish and British Reformation period. |
| Sectors | Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | http://www.wode.div.ed.ac.uk./index.html |
| Description | 1. A travelling version of the Singing the Reformation exhibition was taken to Dundee and was the centrepiece of a series of events over two days 5-6 Nov 2011. The Wode Psalter IPhone App was in considerable demand as an additional visual and aural aid.The extensive church premises at Meadowside St Paul's Church in the middle of Dundee provided room for a large exhibition and for refreshments for those visiting on Saturday and Sunday 5 and 6 Nov 2011. This was a collaborative venture supported by the minister and kirk session who saw it as part of their outreach to the community and it also brought in passers by from the city centre in Dundee especially on Saturday afternoon. The church publicised the event, their choir and choirmaster led the psalm-singing, they provided all the refreshments and facilities and helped assemble and dismantle the exhibition. On Sunday people came from across Fife and Angus as well as Perth and Dundee to participate and they took away the new musical scores. 2. A specialised stitching workshop 'Stitch the Reformation' was held in Killearn Stirlingshire to introduce members of the Embroiderers Guild to the particular blackwork and other 16th century stitching and embroidery techniques used to create the four stitched exhibits in the Singing the Reformation exhibition by Mrs Nancy Bailey. A visual display, the music from the Wode Collection CD and the Wode Psalter IPhone App were available throughout the day-long workshop and Prof Dawson provided the historical background to the stitching. The working on the stitching examples [especially the 'biscornu'] enriched the experience and knowledge of members of the Embroiderers Guild [key transmitters to national and local groups of knowledge in this field] concerning sixteenth-century blackwork and its relevance and beauty for today. 3. A travelling exhibition of Singing the Reformation was taken to Belfast where it was displayed at an academic conference on 13 April [Language, literature and liturgy] and at a public psalm singing event on 14 April. This changed the way in which those who attended the event understood their own heritage of metrical psalm singing in Northern Ireland. 4. The musical scores for the metrical psalms that have been made available via the Church Service Society website have been downloaded and used from East Anglia to Germany as well as in Scotland. Singing these versions of the metrical psalms formed the core of an event in Greyfriars Kirk Edinburgh as part of the Sparks Arts festival in 2015. 5. The original findings of the Wode Psalter project made possible a new project entitled Singing the Reformation 2016 held in St Mary's Parish Church Haddington in March and April 2016. It included new recordings of the psalms sung in a 'congregational' setting and in the context of a partial recreation of worship c1600 in the medium of the Scots language. These recordings and the scores are freely available for download on the Church Service Society website and are being circulated within the Church of Scotland as part of their worship in Scots programme. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
| Sector | Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Knowledge Exchange and Impact Grant [CHSS] |
| Amount | £4,350 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2015 |
| End | 05/2016 |
| Description | Making the music of the Wode Psalter widely accessible |
| Amount | £116,598 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AH/K001809/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2013 |
| End | 12/2014 |
| Title | Church Service Society A |
| Description | Performance editions for modern choirs of a selection of psalm settings from the Wode Partbooks have been placed on the website of the Church Service Society. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | These modern editions have been used by a number of church and early music choirs for e.g. through Scotland and also in East Anglia. |
| URL | http://www.churchservicesociety.org/wode |
| Title | Church Service Society B |
| Description | A complete collection of background material and the musical scores and Scots language pronunciation for selected metrical psalms alongside the recordings of those psalms and of the partial reconstruction of worship in Scots c1600. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This material particularly the musical scores in the Scots language are being used by church choirs and also form part of the Church of Scotland's programme for worship material in the Scots language. |
| URL | http://churchservicesociety.org/singing-reformation-2016 |
| Title | DIAMM |
| Description | As a permanent legacy of the Wode Psalter project, images [741] of all 8 surviving Wode Partbooks have been made freely available as a research resource for all those interested in the world of Reformation Britain and particularly its music. The images have been mounted on the DIAMM website [Archive of early and medieval music]. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2012 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | By placing the images on this generic music site researchers within early music have been able to access digitally any and all of the Partbooks. |
| URL | http://www.diamm.ac.uk/ |
| Title | Wode Psalter Project |
| Description | This post-project website publishes the electronic version of the exhibition booklet; brief background to the Wode Psalter; gallery of images from the exhibition and links to all the digital resources produced for the main and follow-on Wode projects including images of the entire set of Partbooks [DIAMM] and the Ebook of Second Bassus Partbook [Edinburgh University Library]; the CD of The Wode Collection [Linn Records]; modern performing editions of many of the Wode settings [Church Service Society] and the WodePsalter IPhone App [ITunes]. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2012 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This website has provided the main entry point to the resources produced by the Wode Psalter project and has been cited many times as the means by which those materials have been accessed by interested individuals and groups and educational establishments from schools to universities in UK, Europe, the USA, Pakistan and across the world. |
| URL | http://www.wode.div.ed.ac.uk./index.html |
| Description | Loan of British Library's Wode Partbook |
| Organisation | The British Library |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Liaison over the loan for exhibition of the Wode Partbook owned by the British Library and for the entire Partbook to be digitised. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Loan for exhibition over 3 months of British Library's Wode Partbook and permission to create digital images of the entire volume to be made available. |
| Impact | 1. The mounting of the Singing the Reformation exhibition with all 8 Wode Partbooks reunited for the first time since the seventeenth century. 2. The creation of a complete set of digital images for the entire 8 Wode Partbooks available for access and scholarly research. |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | Loan of Library of Georgetown University, Washington, Library's Wode Partbook |
| Organisation | Georgetown University |
| Department | Library |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Liaison over the loan for exhibition of the Wode Partbook owned by the Library of Georgetown University and for the entire Partbook to be digitised. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Loan for exhibition over 3 months of Georgetown University Library's Wode Partbook and permission to create digital images of the entire volume to be made available. |
| Impact | 1. The mounting of the Singing the Reformation exhibition with all 8 Wode Partbooks reunited for the first time since the seventeenth century. 2. The creation of a complete set of digital images for the entire 8 Wode Partbooks available for access and scholarly research. |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | Loan of Library of Trinity College Dublin's Wode Partbook |
| Organisation | Trinity College Dublin |
| Country | Ireland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Liaison over the loan for exhibition of the Wode Partbook owned by the Library of Trinity College, Dublin and for the entire Partbook to be digitised. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Loan for exhibition over 3 months of Trinity college, Dublin, Library's Wode Partbook and permission to create digital images of the entire volume to be made available. |
| Impact | 1. The mounting of the Singing the Reformation exhibition with all 8 Wode Partbooks reunited for the first time since the seventeenth century. 2. The creation of a complete set of digital images for the entire 8 Wode Partbooks available for access and scholarly research. |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | Making musical scores and recordings more widely available |
| Organisation | Church Service Society |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | In the Wode Psalter Follow on project the research team produced new musical scores for the metrical psalms from the Wode Psalter and all the relevant material for the Church Service Society's website page. In the Singing the Reformation 2016 project the new team's collaborated directly with the Church Service Society in the organization of the workshops and events in St Mary's Parish Church Haddington. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Church Service Society's website hosts two sections dealing with the Wode Psalter project and the later Singing the Reformation 2016 project and makes the products of those projects freely available for download. They have promoted those products extensively within their own organization and networks. In the Singing the Reformation 2016 project members of the Church Service Society helped organise the series of workshops and events in St Mary's Parish Church Haddington. They also provided assistance on the musical side and on Scots language. |
| Impact | Making freely available for download all the background material and musical scores of the metrical psalms produced under the Wode Psalter project. Making freely available for download the recordings and the musical scores of the Singing the Reformation 2016 project and articles on the Scots pronunciation and the condensed worship c1600 reconstruction. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Recreating psalm singing and worship c1600 using the Scots language |
| Organisation | Church of Scotland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The Singing the Reformation 2016 team held a series of workshops and training in Scots pronunciation and music. All the elements were combined at the end of the recording weekend on 17 April 2016 in St Mary's Parish Church Haddington that produced a worship experience containing the key elements of Sunday morning worship condensed into the space of one hour. |
| Collaborator Contribution | A small financial grant was made by the Council towards the running costs of the workshops and materials for Singing the Refromation 2016. The Council have adopted the products of the Singing the Reformation 2016 partial worship reconstruction as part of their resources for worship in the Scots language. |
| Impact | The production of the material relating to Scots pronunciation and the musical scores and recordings from the Singing the Reformation 2016 project. The experience of the recreated worship that has been carried into their own churches by the participants. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Title | E book of Second Bassus Partbook |
| Description | E book with page turning images of Wode's Second Bassus Partbook |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2012 |
| Impact | Use of E book technology to permit public access for scholars, universities and schools to the visual impact of one of the colourful Wode Part Books |
| URL | http://images.is.ed.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/UoEgal~5~5~81142~106230;JSESSIONID=59e2a61b-ecda-4bda-... |
| Title | WodePsalter I phone App |
| Description | Free Iphone App with images and musical clips linked to the Singing the Reformation exhibition and concerts |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2011 |
| Impact | Has been used for the dissemination of the images and music to reach audiences that were unable to attend the exhibition and concerts and more generally to introduce a new audience to the Wode Psalter. As part of the travelling exhibitions and workshops in Dundee and Belfast. For e.g. in other geographical locations in Scotland, UK, US and Europe or the elderly and those who were housebound so the exhibition could come to them. |
| URL | https://itunes.apple.com/app/wodepsalter/id439601478?mt=8 |
| Description | Choir workshops on the Wode Partbooks music |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Weekend Workshops for choirs and singers were held in Oct & Nov 2011 to learn and discuss the music found in the Wode Partbooks |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Exhibition and psalm-singing worskshop [Belfast] |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Over 13 April 2012 a psalm-singing workshop on the early metrical psalms was held in Belfast alongside an exhibition relating to the psalms with c45 participants |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Recreating the sound world of Scottish psalm singing and worship |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Awareness of the sound world of of Scottish psalm singing c 1600 was raised for specific participants [80] of the workshops and for the wider audience [c100] of the recreated Reformed service c1600 in Scots at St Mary's arise Church Haddington on 17 April 2016 . The sound recordings of the psalms and service and the musical scores and texts in Scots are freely available n the Church Service Society website [see URL] and being used for a variety of artistic and church events. Our partners were St Mary's Parish Church Haddington, the Church Service Society and the Church of Scotland. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.churchservicesociety.org/singing-reformation-2016 |
| Description | Singing the Reformation exhibition, lecture and psalm-singing worskshop [Dundee] |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Over a weekend 5-6 Nov 2011 a travelling version of the project's main exhibition Singing the Reformation was set up in the centre of Dundee and there was a lecture and psalm-singing event and workshop on the second day. As well as Dundee, the workshop drew participants from Perth and Angus and St Andrews and Fife. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Stitching workshop with historical lecture [Killearn] |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A stitching workshop that directly related to the specially-commissioned stitching exhibits in the project's Exhibition Singing the Reformation was held in Killearn in 2012 drawing in experienced stitchers from across the West of Scotland - the workshop was fully booked with 18 embroiderers who undertook to make two items with sixteenth-century style blackwork stitching, one being a biscornu, devised by Mrs Nancy Bailey based on her blackwork stitching in the exhibition. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | The Wode Collection on Early Music Show BBC Radio 3 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An entire programme of the Early Music Show BBC Radio 3 featured the Singing the Reformation exhibition and music from The Wode Collection CD that was produced as part of the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015mskt |