Consort, Full, and Verse Anthems

The twelve anthems of Matthew Jeffries (ca. 1558–ca.1615) given in this edition include three consort anthems with accompaniment for viols, and an extended verse anthem, described as “A prayer for the King and the Royal Family.” The remainder are full anthems in four, five, six, and eight parts, none of which has been published before. Most of the anthems are settings of verses from the psalms, as given in the Book of Common Prayer. The works of Jeffries, a singingman and Master of the Choristers at Wells Cathedral for most of his life, are assured in their construction, contrasting contrapuntal and homophonic passages in a most expressive manner. The anthem scores have been assembled from voice parts in a variety of manuscript partbooks, held in various libraries in Great Britain and the United States. Even so, some anthems lack a voice part, which has been reconstructed by the editor.