The repertoire of The Mulliner Book has long been neglected and underappreciated by keyboardists; even in spite of new and accessible editions of this music being published in recent years. Most performers fail to embrace the many interpretative possibilities which this repertoire encourages, and rarely explore this repertoire on a variety of instruments. Most recordings of this repertoire tend to be on just one instrument – the organ. This is a rather narrow scope of performance, given the wealth of instruments available to the Tudor composers featured in The Mulliner Book. The Mulliner Book has also been solely labelled by musicologists as a historical document used for educational purposes only. Such a labelling completely ignores the manuscript’s possible origins as a medium for performance and is perhaps the reason behind the underappreciation of this manuscript by keyboardists.

This project (The Mulliner Project) has focused on challenging these two issues. My project initially addresses the labelling of The Mulliner Book as a historical and educational document by studying the manuscript’s history. This study into the manuscript’s history demonstrates that scholars cannot agree on the manuscript’s origins or uses: no one definitively knows how it was used or why it was compiled. The Mulliner Book could have been used for a range of purposes: historical, educational, or for performance. Building on this knowledge, my project then explores the possible methods of reimagining the repertoire of The Mulliner Book. This exploration is done on a range of instruments inspired by the instrument inventory of Henry VIII’s court, and through the use of many different instrumental and musical techniques. The instruments used for this project include the spinet, harpsichord, organ, and chamber organ. Each piece was recorded in a “neutral stance” initially on the spinet After these neutral recordings I then made further experimental recordings of each piece, moving between the instruments I selected for the project. Repertoire was matched to each instrument based on the suitability of the piece for the selected instrument, and the likelihood of the instrument producing a successful reimagining of the piece. After completing all the recordings, I then compiled and used an interpretive toolkit as a way of discussing and exploring the interpretive decisions that I made during the recording process. This toolkit outlines possible methods of reimagining this repertoire, such as: instrument selection and registration selection, ornamentation, the use of improvisation and repeats, instrument specific techniques, phrasing, tempo, and the character implications of a piece.

This recording process has produced insightful and unique reimaginings of the rich repertoire of The Mulliner Book. These recordings highlight that performances of this repertoire should never be clinical or repetitive in style; performances should be imaginative and creative. Performers should be encouraged to explore this repertoire and to be creative with their interpretations.