The library of Wollaton Hall, Nottingham, was from the mid-16th century until 1924 the home of The Wollaton Antiphonal. This magnificent early-15th-century illuminated chant book was produced for Thomas Chaworth, a prominent nobleman. Having survived the ravages of time (and the Reformation), it was the subject of a colloquium held at the University of Nottingham in May 2010. This recording, made immediately afterwards, celebrates the religious culture and musical tastes of the Lancastrian courts of Kings Henry V and VI.

The manuscript is the only surviving source of the melodies which form the anonymous Office for St John of Bridlington. Its chants provide the setting for the extended Missa Quem malignus spiritus, a work of elegance and distinction, which features a wide range of styles and moods, from the devotional to the ceremonial. What stand out are the freshness and vigour of its rhythmic shapes, and the richness of its imitative interweaving.

Leonel Power’s motets in honour of the Virgin Mary are beautiful gems, memorable for their astounding harmonic twists, which are clearly relished by the Binchois Consort. The other motets composed by musicians employed in Henry V’s chapel are equally alluring. As we gear up towards 2015 one can only hope that this beautiful disc will help to give a more rounded picture of the Victor of Agincourt as a musical patron with exquisite taste.