Lambeth Choirbook


The Lambeth Choirbook – also known as the Arundel Choirbook – is an illuminated choirbook dating to the sixteenth century. It contains music for 7 Masses, 4 Magnificats, and 8 motets. Much of the music is by Tudor-period composers. The major contributors are Robert Fayrfax and Nicholas Ludford; between them they contributed at least ten of its nineteen pieces. Only three of Fayrfax's works have his name attached to them, but five other pieces are known as his; these, along with two by Ludford, are known from concordances in the Caius Choirbook and other manuscripts. Seven anonymous pieces exist in the book:
No concordances for any of these have been traced, and it seems possible that further works by Fayrfax and Ludford might exist among them. The book also contains music by older composers, such as Edmund Stourton and Walter Lambe, whose music may also be found in the Eton Choirbook.
The book is now housed in Lambeth Palace Library under the reference MS 1.