Eterne laudis lilium is almost certainly the 'anthem of our Lady and
St Elisabeth' for which Queen Elizabeth, the wife of Henry VII, paid Fayrfax 20 shillings on Easter
Monday 1502; but this payment (and presumably the antiphon's first performance) occurred at Richmond Palace,
where the queen spent Easter that year, and not, as is widely supposed, at St Alban's Abbey. The music shows
Fayrfax's customary eloquence, restraint and highly developed harmonic sense. This edition has been transposed
down a minor third to suit a five-part mixed choir: SATBarB. x + 15 pages.
|
