Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/468

452 White commenced org$t$. of West$r$. 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.

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:—

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:—

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—

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.

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

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?)

Peccatum peccavit (Lam. I. 8–13. in two parts, the second commencing at Omnls populua), à 6 (A min.}. Ch.Ch., M.S.O., B.M., B.C.M.

Peccatum peccavit, à 5 (D min.). Ch.Ch.

Portions of Psalm cxix., viz:— Portions of a Magnificat, à 6, viz.:– Miserere (Psalm li., in two parts, the second commencing 'Cor mundum'), à 5 (D minor). Ch.Ch.
 * 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.
 * 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.). 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.) Ch. Ch., M.S.O.

Regina cœli, à 5 (F major). Ch.Ch.

Precamur sancte Domine, à 5 (D dor.). 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). B.M.

Libera me, à 4 (G min.). B.M.

Christe qui lux. B.M.

Do.Do.

3 In nomines. B.M.