Rethinking early music in a time of isolation

ABSTRACT

Through the covid-19 pandemic, the choir of St Wulfram's Church, Grantham has approached elaborate Tudor polyphony via digital, virtual and hybrid methods. Remote music production devolves responsibility to individuals within a choir. It reframes trust dynamics among choir members, and between singers and their director. This helped singers to encounter polyphony in a new way while isolated from one another, rethinking repertory and re-evaluating their understanding of this period in music history. Re-creating historical performance factors by new means generated intriguing results. As in-person singing has gradually returned for parish church choirs, members have developed new confidence in singing polyphonic music.