Christ Church Library music catalogue

EDWARD LOWE: THE AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS

John Milsom

*** N.B. Additions will be made to this page as new information becomes available. To view the date on which the current version was posted, please scroll down to the end of the page. ***

Introduction

Edward Lowe (c. 1610-82), organist of Christ Church Cathedral in the 1630s and again after the Restoration, is one of the most conspicuous copyists of music manuscripts in the Christ Church collection. Other manuscripts written by him, now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, reflect his additional duties as professor of music at the University. In both capacities Lowe came into contact with Henry Aldrich, who may have been his pupil. At least some of the Lowe manuscripts at Christ Church appear subsequently to have passed to Aldrich, and to have entered the Christ Church library collections by way of the Aldrich bequest.

Listed below are all the music manuscripts at Christ Church known or suspected to have been copied by Lowe, together with manuscripts that include works by him. Brief descriptions of the items are provided, together with hypertext links to pages that give fuller information and inventories.

1. Autograph copies by Lowe
Possibly Mus. 7, layer 2 (ff. 126-59): motets by Graziani.
Mus. 23, item 2: Blow, 'Awake, my lyre'.
Mus. 49 (pp. 48-65): motets by Sances, copied jointly with Withy.
Mus. 382-4: suites by Valentine Oldis.
Mus. 438: songs, then organ accompaniments for services and anthems.
Possibly additions to Mus. 468-72.
Mus. 525: organ parts for services and anthems, copied jointly with Aldrich.
Mus. 526: organ parts for service music, copied jointly with Aldrich.
Mus. 554: works by Byrd and Blow; annotation to a Purcell autograph MS.
Mus. 619 (ff. 16-19): Matthew Locke, Oxford Act song 'Descende caelo'.
Mus. 621 (ff. 1-41): motets, anthems and secular works.
Mus. 693: Christopher Gibbons, 'Ah, my soul' (score and parts).
Mus. 768-70: psalms by William Lawes.
In Mus. 887-92, possible annotation to Mus. 889, tract 12, last page.
Mus. 1002: services copied in score; additions by Goodson Sr and Withy.
Mus. 1021: C. Simpson, 'Little Consort' (bass only).
Mus. 1127: Oxford act odes by Aldrich (performers' parts).
Mus. 1141b (ff. 111-13): keyboard music.
Mus. 1141d (f. 128): keyboard music, copied jointly with Goodson Sr.
Mus. 1151: motet by Sances.
Mus. 1176: keyboard music, copied jointly with Goodson Sr.
Mus. 1177: keyboard music, copied jointly with Goodson Sr.
Mus. 1178, and Mus. 49 (pp. 152-91): motets by Casati, Rovetta etc.
Mus. 1188-9 (ff. 7-14): Locke, Jubilate in F (performers' parts).
Mus. 1188-9 (ff. 20-27): Aldrich, Service in F, copied jointly with Aldrich.
Mus. 1188-9 (ff. 28-31): unidentified morning service in C.
Mus. 1188-9 (f. 38): Locke, 'O give thanks', copied collaboratively.
Mus. 1220-4: partbooks from Christ Church Cathedral.
Mus. 1246: tenor partbook for Christ Church Cathedral choir.

2. Music by Lowe copied by other scribes

Mus. 17: includes songs by Lowe, copied by Aldrich.
Mus. 623-6: includes anthems by Lowe, copied by Bowman.