An early-modern monk will sing again after four centuries.
The music of Dunfermline composer-monk Jhone Angus has been recognised and recorded in a new book.
The publication traces the growth of the Reformation and includes reproductions from contemporary music manuscripts and also a 15-track CD of his music.
Jhone Angus was born about 1515 and died in 1596. He was a monk at Dunfermline Abbey during the Reformation that swept through Europe and removed the complex polyphonic music of the Catholic church in Scotland.
Angus was one of the composers who wrote the simpler tunes required by the Reformed Kirk.
The book begins with an outline of the growth of Protestantism in Europe by Professor Michael Lynch, followed by its effects on Scotland by Dr Patricia Dennison.
Dr Jamie Reid-Baxter tells the story of church music before and after the Reformation, and how the music of Angus was preserved in the part-books of his friend Thomas Wode.
The Wode Psalter, which was prepared in St Andrews and has recently been digitised by Edinburgh University, contains the Canticles set to music by Angus featured in the accompanying CD.
Clive Willcocks, editor of Jhone Angus and leader of the publications Group of Dunfermline Heritage Community Projects, said: “Many people in Dunfermline have never heard of Angus, let alone his fine music, so we hope this book will place him among the other great names of our city.”
He added that the group had been fortunate to receive funding from a private donor, Fife Council and Culture Funds as well as the West Fife Common Good Fund.
Jhone Angus is published by DoubleBridge Press priced at £25 and is available through branches of Waterstones, Blackwells and other bookshops.
Photo David Wardle.