Christ Church has been a home to musical excellence since its foundation. One of its earliest employees was John Taverner, appointed in 1525 as the first Informator choristarum (instructor of the choristers). He quickly established himself as a composer of national significance, and his music survived the strictures of the Reformation to be copied even a century after its composition. More recently, Taverner and his music inspired Peter Maxwell Davies in the composition of orchestral pieces and an opera. Find out about John Taverner: a panel of distinguished scholars give illustrated talks to introduce and discuss his life, his work, and his legacy.

Booking via Eventbrite is essential.

Registration includes refreshments (not lunch): £15; £5 concessions (for University of Oxford staff and alumni, and those over 65); free for students of any institution and those who are unemployed. Proof of eligibility must be presented with your ticket when you visit.

Registration and Session One will take place in the Upper Library.  Refreshments and Session Two will take place in the Research Centre, a short walk across the college. 

Programme

13:30: Registration and exhibition viewing

14:00: Welcome

14.15: Session One

Magnus Williamson (Newcastle University) – Taverner of Boston

Kerry McCarthy (Independent Scholar) – Taverner, Wolsey, and the art of musical patronage

Andrew Hope (Independent Scholar) – Taverner and the Oxford ‘Lutherans’ in the 1520s

David Skinner (Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge) – John Taverner and the Sounds of Reformation

Lay clerks of Christ Church Cathedral Choir, directed by Peter Holder, perform selected works by John Taverner.

16:00: Break

16:30: Session Two

David Maw (Christ Church, Oxford) – ‘not unlike a confused singing of birds’: Taverner’s instrumental legacy

Nicholas Jones (Cardiff University) – Maxwell-Davies and Taverner

Questions and answers with panel discussion.

Please note: we regret that access to the Upper Library is by a large spiral staircase only and may cause difficulty for anyone with limited mobility.