These sixteenth-century codices were used by the singers of the local St. Peter’s Church’s ‘zeven-getijdencollege’. Together with the Bossche Choirbooks, they constitute the only surviving collections of handwritten choirbooks containing polyphonic music preserved in the Netherlands.

At Museum De Lakenhal, the ADL digitized choirbook C (Ms. 1440), which is currently on display there. The manuscript’s colophon reveals that the calligrapher Anthonius de Blauwe copied it in 1559. Its repertoire includes polyphonic Mass settings, motets and Magnificats by composers such as Cristóbal de Morales, Clemens non Papa, and Cornelius Canis. The manuscript also contains a six-part Requiem Mass by Jean Richafort, which Cappella Pratensis (ensemble-in-residence at the Alamire Foundation) will bring to life in a historical reconstruction during the next edition of Voices of Passion.

The remaining five choirbooks, preserved in the archives of Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken, will be digitized in November and December. Afterwards, the sources will be made available through the Integrated Database for Early Music, accompanied by detailed metadata.