Music and Majesty: Chapels Royal, Cathedrals, and Colleges, c.1485-1688

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The period 1485-1688 has been heralded as a ‘Golden Age’ for English church music, which equipped the Church of England with a rich musical repertory that is still heard in churches and cathedrals today. Royal chapels, cathedrals, and collegiate institutions are unique sanctuaries which have safeguarded English church music from a variety of socio-political events. Although their importance to the musical and religious development of the English ‘long Reformation’ has received considerable attention from historians and musicologists, interdisciplinary perspectives and discussions are vital for the future development of this field.

Understanding how royal chapels, cathedrals, and collegiate institutions engaged with a musical liturgy for a Protestant Church has important consequences for understanding many of the key themes and tensions of the English Reformation. This conference will interrogate the musical, theological, and liturgical heritage of the English Reformation, and contribute to our understanding of the post-Reformation English church.

Conference convenors:

• Katie Bank, University of Birmingham
• Oscar Patton, University of Oxford
• Samuel Teague, University of Oxford

Speakers across the two-day conference include:

• Jonathan Arnold, Dioces of Canterbury
• Katherine Butler, Northumbria University
• Kenneth Fincham, University of Kent
• Andrew Foster, University of Kent
• William Hunt, Independent Scholar
• Mark Kirby, University of Oxford
• Daniel Koplitz, Stanford University
• Kerry McCarthy, Independent Scholar
• Katie McKeogh, King's College London
• Anthony Musson, Historic Royal Palaces
• Matthias Range, Oxford Brookes / University of Oxford
• Owen Rees, University of Oxford
• Alexandra Siso, Independent Scholar
• Charlie Spragg, University of Edinburgh
• Nicholas Thistlethwaite, Independent Scholar
• John Wall, North Carolina State University
• Magnus Williamson, University of Newcastle

• In-person: admission £20 (two days)
• In-person: concessions £10 (two days)

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