TheOld Hall Manuscript (British Library, Add MS 57950) is the largest, most complete, and most significant source ofEnglish sacred music of the late 14th and early 15th centuries, and as such represents the best source for lateMedieval English music. The manuscript somehow survived theReformation, and formerly belonged toSt Edmund's College, a Roman Catholic school located atOld Hall Green (hence its name) inHertfordshire. It was sold to theBritish Library after an auction atSotheby's in 1973.^[1]

The manuscript contains 148 compositions overall, 77 of which are written in score rather than in separate parts. Most of the pieces are settings of parts of theordinary of theMass, and are grouped by section. In other words, the settings of the Gloria are together, as are the settings of theCredo,Sanctus, andAgnus Dei. Between these grouped settings are somemotets and pieces related to theconductus.

The Old Hall Manuscript was compiled in the early 15th century, probably over a period of about 20 years. The hands of several copyists are identifiable, and some of them may be those of the composers themselves. Recent research has suggested that work on the manuscript ended with the death ofThomas, Duke of Clarence, in 1421, a somewhat later date than was previously suggested. This date allows the fitting into the chronology of the most recent piece in the manuscript, the wedding motet byByttering which was almost certainly written for the marriage ofHenry V andCatherine of Valois on 2 June 1420, as well as a group of motets by several composers, the titles of which closely match written accounts of the music played at the celebration of the victory ofAgincourt in 1415.

Various musical styles and techniques are represented including Englishdiscant, treble-dominated works,isorhythmic compositions, andcanons. A complex Credo (No. 75 in the manuscript) includes a three-voicemensuration canon among its five voices; it is notated in black, red and blue notes.

The Old Hall Manuscript is significant for confirming the existence and character of specifically English musical traits, the extent of the development of English music, as well as the influence of continental practices. In particular it shows a tendency in England to focus on musical complexities, such as canons, at a time when music on the continent was increasingly tending towards simplicity. Whether this trend generally continued in the 15th century in England is hard to determine because of the poor survival of manuscripts from that time, but it was well established by the middle of the 15th century, for example at theBurgundian court, that there was a style which was identifiably English—"la contenance angloise", according toMartin le Franc in his poem of 1441–1442Le Champion des Dames. On the other hand, the Old Hall Manuscript is an impressive example of French influence in England.Manfred Bukofzer, writing inStudies in Medieval and Renaissance Music (1950) wrote: "The greatest surprise of the Old Hall Repertory is unquestionably the prominent role of isorhythmic technique, which is irrefutable proof of a strong French influence."^[2] As English musicians were well known at the Burgundian court, French musicians may also have been known in England. It has been suggested^[3] thatPycard, composer of the canon No. 75, was actually French; but this is unlikely on stylistic grounds.

The influence of the Low Countries may be discerned in the music ofOliver.

One feature of the repertoire is the cultivation of dissonance, comparable perhaps to the music in theCyprus Manuscript of a couple of decades later. Good examples can be heard in the music ofJohn Cooke andDamett.

A historically significant development was the occasional use ofdivisi, the earliest certain evidence of polyphony being sung by achoir of two or more voices per part.

Composers with works in the Old Hall Manuscript includeLeonel Power,Pycard,William Typp, ThomasByttering, Oliver, Chirbury, Excetre,John Cooke,Roy Henry (probablyKing Henry V, but possiblyKing Henry IV),Queldryk,John Tyes, Aleyn, Fonteyns, Gervays,Lambe,Nicholas Sturgeon,Thomas Damett, and others. The manuscript also contains some works by foreign musicians, includingAntonio Zachara da Teramo andMayshuet.

The Old Hall manuscript [by] A. Ramsbotham. Nashdom Abbey : Plainsong & Mediaeval Music Soc., 1933.

The Old Hall manuscript transcribed and edited by Andrew Hughes andMargaret Bent. Dallas (Tex.):American Institute of Musicology, 1969-1973. (Corpus mensurabilis musicae; 46)

• Margaret Bent, "Old Hall MS"; "Sources, Medieval, England";The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980.ISBN 1-56159-174-2
• Harold Gleason and Warren Becker,Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Music Literature Outlines Series I). Bloomington, Indiana. Frangipani Press, 1986.ISBN 0-89917-034-X

• High-resolution colour digital images of the entire manuscript

• 15th-century books
• Medieval music manuscript sources
• Renaissance music
• Books on English music
• Music illuminated manuscripts
• 15th-century illuminated manuscripts

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