A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/White, Robert

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A Dictionary of Music and Musicians
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3951014A Dictionary of Music and Musicians — White, Robert


​WHITE, Robert, a great English musician of the 16th cent., of whose life no particulars seem obtainable. In an organ-book at Ely Cathedral there is a list of organists, according to which White was organist there from 1562 to 1567, and died in the last-named year. The official register of the organists commences with John Farrant on Dec. 9, 1567. An old MS. in the possession of the Rev. Sir F. A. G. Ouseley may be understood to say that White was organist of Westminster Abbey 'temp. 1560.' In one of the MSS. in the library of Ch. Ch., Oxford, he is constantly described as of Westminster, and once in full as 'Mr. Ro. Whytt, batchelar of art, batchelar of musick, organist of Westminster, and mr of the children of the same.' More definite still is a MS. note by Mr. John Stafford Smith in the margin of a copy of Burney's History (vol. iii. p. 66) in the Royal College of Music Library, according to which 'Robert ​White commenced orgt. of Westr. Abbey anno 1570, and master of the choristers 1574. Died 1575.' No corroboration of any of these statements is forthcoming. There is no entry of White's burial at Ely, and the Westminster Registers appear to make no mention of him. Nor, again, can White's degrees be found in the Registers of either Oxford or Cambridge, which are unfortunately most defective at the period at which he, in all likelihood, graduated. Several persons of the name graduated at Cambridge during the reign of Henry VIII, but in no case are the Christian names given. Anthony à Wood, in his Lives of English Musicians, has very little to say about White, and in the index assigns him to the reign of Charles I., obviously confusing him with Matthew White.

This almost total want of information is the more remarkable as White was certainly a man of very great note in his day. Morley, in his 'Plain and Easy Introduction,' classes him with the glories of the English School. In a MS. written in 1591 by John Baldwine, 'singing man of Windsor,' that worthy says, in recounting the principal composers of his age:—

I will begin with White, Shepperd, Tye, and Tallis, Parsons, Gyles, Mundie, th'oulde one of the Queen's pallis.

The writer of the beautiful set of Part Books in the Ch. Ch. Library, from which so much of interest with regard to the composers of the 16th century is to be gleaned, was an enthusiastic admirer of White. At the end of the Peccatum peccavit in D minor he writes in the alto and tenor parts:—

Non ita moesta sonant plangentis verba Prophetæ
⁠Quam sonat authors musica moesta mei.

[Sad as the mourning Prophet's words fall on the ear,
⁠More sad to me the music's tones appear.]

There may have been another couplet, but, if so, the binders have destroyed it. Again, at the end of the Precamur, we find in all the parts—

Maxima musarum nostrarum gloria White
⁠Tu peris; æternum sed tua musa manet.

[Thou diest, White, chief splendour of our art,
⁠But what thy art hath wrought shall nevermore depart.]

It is a sad commentary on this that only three of White's pieces have been printed, 'The Lord bless us,' in Barnard; 'Lord, who shall dwell,' in Burney's History, and 'O praise God in His holiness,' by Burns, in 'Anthems and Services; Second Series' (about 1847). The MS. books of White's time are, however, full of his music, showing that it was highly esteemed. In many cases we find his music attributed to Thomas, William, or Matthew White. The first Christian name seems to be a mere blunder.

Matthew White may have been a relation of Robert. [See p. 451.]

William White appears as the author of a number of Fantasias, mostly in five or six parts, in the Libraries of Christ Church and the Music School, Oxford, the style of which leads to the conjecture that he lived in the early part of the 17th century. An anthem, to the words 'Behold now, praise the Lord,' in the part-books at St. Peter's College, Cambridge, is ascribed to him.

The following list of Robert White's compositions seems fairly complete. It presents three noteworthy features:—

(1) The absence of secular compositions, with the possible exception of the Fantasias for the Lute.

(2) The great preponderance of Latin in the words.

(3) The fact that apparently none of the Latin motets were adapted to English words. The strangeness of this will be realised by comparing the numerous adaptations made in the case of Tallis. (Is it a sign of White's earlier date?)

COMPOSITIONS TO LATIN WORDS.

Peccatum peccavit (Lam. I. 8–13. in two parts, the second commencing at Omnls populua), à 6 (A min.}. [1]Ch.Ch., M.S.O., B.M., B.C.M.
Peccatum peccavit, à 5 (D min.). Ch.Ch.
Portions of Psalm cxix., viz:—

  1. Portio mea (vv. 57–64), à 5 (A min.). Ch.Ch.
  2. Manus tu (and Veniant mihi. 72–80), à 5 (D min.) Ch.Ch., M.S.O., R.C.M., B.M.
  3. Justus es (137–144), à 5. (E min.) Ch.Ch.
  4. Appropinquet deprecatio (169–176), à 5 (G min.). Ch.Ch.

Portions of a Magnificat, à 6, viz.:–

  1. Quia fecit, à 4 (D min.). Ch.Ch.
  2. Et sanctum nomen, à 3 (D min.). Ch.Ch.
  3. Sicut locutus est, à 4 (D min.). Ch.Ch.
  4. Sicut erat in principio, à 4 (D min.).[2] Ch.Ch.

Miserere (Psalm li., in two parts, the second commencing 'Cor mundum'), à 5 (D minor). Ch.Ch.
Exaudiat te (Psalm xx.), à 5 (D min.) Ch.Ch.
Domine quls habitabit (Psalm xv.), à 6 (?) (D min.) Ch.Ch.
⁠Do.⁠Do.⁠(D min.) Do. M.S.O.
⁠Do.⁠Do.⁠(A min.) Do.
Deus misereatur (Psalm lxvii.), à 6 (G min.) Ch.Ch., M.S.O.
Cantate Domino (Psalm xcviii), à 3 (A min.) R.C.M.
Ad Te levavi (Psalm cxxiii.), à 6 (?) (G min.) Ch.Ch.
Domine non est (Psalm cxxxi.) à 6 (D min.)[3] Ch. Ch., M.S.O.
Regina cœli, à 5 (F major). Ch.Ch.
Precamur sancte Domine, à 5 (D dor.).[4] Ch.Ch.
Tota pulchra es (Canticles iv. 7), à 6 (?) (A min.). Ch.Ch.
In nomine, à 5 (D min.). Ch.Ch., M.S.O., B.M.
3 In nomines, à 4 (D min.) M.S.O.
In nomine, à 5 (F major).[5] B.M.
Libera me, à 4 (G min.).[6] B.M.
Christe qui lux. B.M.
⁠Do.⁠Do.
3 In nomines.[7] B.M.

​

II. COMPOSITIONS TO ENGLISH WORDS.

O Lord, deliver me from mine enemies, à 5 (D min.). Ch.Ch.
Lorde, who shall dwell (Psalm xv.), à 5 (G min.).[8] Ch.Ch.
The Lord bless us, à 6 (A min.).[9] Ch.Ch.
Let thy mercyful ears. Ch.Ch. Catalogue.[10]
O praise God in His holiness, à 8 (F major).[11] Ch.Ch., Teubury, Ely York, P.H.
O how glorious.[12] Ch.Ch., P.H.
O God the heathen are come. York Catalogue.
Prayse the Lord, my soul, à 6 (D min.).[13] R.C.M.

III. INSTRUMENTAL PIECES.

6 Fantazias for the Lute. B.M.
'Bitts of three Parte Songs, in Partition; with Ditties, 11; withoute Ditties. 16.'[14]

A certain Magister White was employed by Magdalen College, Oxford, in the years 1531, 1532, 1539, 1542, and 1545, to repair the organ in the College Chapel. In the 'Parish Choir' (vol. iii. p. 82) Sir William Cope conjectures, on the strength of the title Magister, that this was none other than Robert White. If so, White would be one of the earliest English organ-builders as well as one of the chief glories of the English school of music. Dr. Rimbault declares in his Preface to the Musical Antiquarian Society's edition of Gibbons's Fantasies (p. 7) that Robert White was the First English musician who adopted the title of Fancies for a collection of instrumental compositions, and refers to the Fantasias in the Library of Christ Church, Oxford, in support of this statement. These Fantasias, as already observed, are the work of William White, but the Fantazias in the British Museum seem to make good Dr. Rimbault's statement.

The writer has to tender his sincere thanks to the Rev. Sir F. A. G. Ouseley, Bart., the Rev. Sir W. H. Cope, Bart., the Rev. W. E. Barnes, the Rev. W. E. Dickson, Dr. Naylor, Dr. Armes, Dr. Mann, Mr. Barclay Squire, and Mr. Bertram Pollock, for most material assistance rendered by them in drawing up the foregoing particulars.
  1. ↑ Ch.Ch. = Christ Church, Oxford. M.S.O. = Music School Library, Oxford. B.M. = British Museum. R.C.M. = Royal College of Music. P.H. = Peter House, Cambridge.
  2. ↑ All these appear in a book which consists of excerpts, usually for a small number of voices, from larger works. It seems a tolerably certain inference that they are clippings from a Magnificat of considerable dimensions. More than this, there is in the Oxford Music School Library a Contra Tenor part of a Magnificat à 6, from which, where comparison is possible, it is clear that the excerpts in Ch.Ch. were taken. There is the usual difficulty about Christian names. The Ch.Ch. MS. only assigns the pieces to 'Mr. Whight,' by which in that MS. Robert White is always meant. The Music School MS. attributes the Magnificat to Mr. William White, 1570.' As the Ch.Ch. MS. seems much older than the other, and everything else points to William White having lived a good deal later than 1570, it seems most reasonable to consider Robert White the author of this work. Since writing this the author has discovered at Tenbury five parts of the whole of this Magnificat.
  3. ↑ 'Sicut ablactatus,' which appears as a separate Motet in a MS. at Ch.Ch., is only an excerpt from this work.
  4. ↑ Several settings of these words by White are to be found. In Ch.Ch. there is first of all a melody harmonised note against note, much as a modern hymn tune, except that in the second of the three verses of the hymn the melody is assigned not to the treble but to the alto. There are also in Ch.Ch. three other pieces to these words, two in D dor, immediately following that described, and subsequently one in G min., in all of which the melody is used as a C.F. and florid counterpoints written to it. The second and third of these are also in B.M.; the first in M.S.O.; the second, and perhaps the others in R.C.M. also.
  5. ↑ This piece, which is not called an In nomine, appears in a volume that bears the date 1578, and is entitled 'A book of In nomines and other solfaing songs of 5, 6, 7, and 8 parts for voices or instruments.'
  6. ↑ Only ascribed to 'Mr. White.'
  7. ↑ The Ch.Ch. Catalogue refers to an Ecce Mater by White, but this appears to be a mistake of the Cataloguer.
  8. ↑ Printed by Burney.
  9. ↑ This anthem is at York ascribed to William White; at Ely, in Mr. Hawkins's handwriting, to 'Dr. Matthew White of Xt. Church in Oxford 1611.' But in the Ch.Ch. part-books it is assigned to Robert White, and these books were written about 1581. An autograph book of Dr. Blow in the Fitzwilliam at Cambridge also attributes it to Robert White, and Barnard prints it as Rob. White, which seems conclusive. [See Schools of Composition, vol. iii. p. 272a.]
  10. ↑ The books that contained this Anthem are missing.
  11. ↑ This is printed in vol. ii. of Services and Anthems, published by Burns. At York it is ascribed to William, and in another copy to Matthew White. At Ch.Ch. there is no Christian name, but the Tenbury copy ascribes the piece decisively to Maister Whytt, orgt. of Westminster Abbey, temp. 1560.'
  12. ↑ As this is only said to be by 'Mr. White,' it may belong to Matthew White.
  13. ↑ This is only attributed to 'White.' Another anthem. 'O Lord our Governor.' in R.C.M. is ascribed to R. W., and probably Robert White is meant.
  14. ↑ See Burney's History, vol. iii. p. 71.
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