Music for the Burial Service

It is perhaps only fitting that, along with the Liturgy of Marriage, the text of the Burial Service has become part of the consciousness of the English-speaking world. Archbishop Cranmer's superb selection of biblical quotation is itself much-quoted. But most interesting of all is the instruction in the Book of Common Prayer that some of these 'sentences' may be sung, and a number of composers have composed music for them.

Thomas Morley (1557 - 1602)

Thomas Morley was one of the first to set the Burial Sentences to music, but little is known of it before its re-discovery by William Croft. Perhaps the destruction during the Civil War and Commonwealth can account for the lack of contemporary sources of this well-loved collection of short pieces. However, it is more curious that the earliest complete sources date from the 18th century. There is only one 16th century Tenor part book in existence, in which the composer is not stated. Morley is credited as the composer by the time of the Restoration, however, scholars continue to debate whether it really is his work.

Of all the sentences, Thou knowest, Lord, is the most likely to be apocryphal. The music does not seem consistent with the other sentences; and the phrase 'suffer us not' has a tellingly baroque chromaticism. It is absent from many of the sources. What is more, the Tenor part book has a different, incompatible setting of this text, which may be all that remains of the original.

Obviously, the music was originally set to the text of the Elizabethan Prayer Book of 1559, using the text of Coverdale's Great Bible. However, the sources use the text of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which uses the King James' Version. These different attempts to fit the text to the music have met with varying degrees of success.

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William Croft (1678 - 1727)

The most often-performed and well-loved setting is that by William Croft. It is one of the great traditions of English sacred choral music, having been performed at every state funeral since its inception. When Croft composed it, he included the setting of Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts by Henry Purcell. He later gave the reason for doing so:

“In that service, there is one verse composed by my predecessor, the famous Mr. Henry Purcell, to which, in justice to his memory, his name is applied. The reason why I did not compose that verse anew (so as to render the whole service entirely of my own composition) is obvious to every Artist; in the rest of that service composed by me, I have endeavoured as near as I could, to imitate that great master and celebrated composer, whose name will for ever stand high in the rank of those who have laboured to improve the English style.”

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Others

William Boyce (1711 - 1779)

William Boyce also composed a set, which has been over-shadowed by the popularity of Croft's setting.

Thomas Tomkins (1572 - 1656)

Motets set to the words of the Burial Service feature in Musica Deo Sacra, the collection of Tomkin's work published posthumously in 1668.

Other composers to have set the complete text include Hugh Blair (1864 - 1932), and John Goss (1800 - 1880). Henry Purcell, of course, set the whole set twice: once in a setting known for its angularity and curiously dissonant texture; and again for the funeral of Queen Mary.