MEAD HOUSE

Composer: Cyril Taylor

Cyril V. Taylor (b. Wigan, Lancashire, England, 1907; d. Petersfield, England, 1992) was a chorister at Magdalen College School, Oxford, and studied at Christ Church, Oxford, and Westcott House, Cambridge. Ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1932, he served the church as both pastor and musician. His positions included being a producer in the religious broadcasting department of the BBC (1939­1953), chaplain of the Royal School of Church Music (1953-1958), vicar of Cerne Abbas in Dorsetshire (1958-1969), and precentor of Salisbury Cathedral (1969-1975). He contributed twenty hymn tunes to the BBC Hymn Book (1951), which he edited, and other tunes to the Methodist Hymns and Psalms (1983). He also edited 100 Hymns for Today (1969)… Go to person page >

Cyril V. Taylor (PHH 286) composed MEAD HOUSE as a setting for Christopher Wordsworth's "Alleluia, Alleluia!" (387). Named for a house in Redhill, Surrey, England, where Taylor often stayed as a boy, the tune was one of twenty tunes by Taylor published in the BBC Hymn Book (1951).

MEAD HOUSE is a rounded bar form (AABA) with an opening melodic motive tl1at permeates the entire tune and leads to an impressive climax. This is a glorious tune for unison singing, though some may want to sing the harmony on certain stanzas. Try using brass instruments as accompaniment.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988