Robert Wylkynson [Wilkinson]

(c.1450-1515 or later)

Robert Wylkynson was at Eton from 1496 to 1515, first as parish clerk and then from 1500 as master of the choristers (Informator). His nine-part Salve regina and his Apostles' Creed are the last entries in the manuscript and possibly were copied by him. Wylkynson's work, like Cornysh's, has suffered severe losses, for only three of his eight works survive complete; but what remains shows Wylkynson to have been an extremely ambitious composer and a more than competent one.

The Salve regina in the Eton Choirbook is the only work from our period in nine parts. To some degree it was probably intended to outdo Browne's eight-part O Maria salvatoris mater.





A Partial Robert Wylkynson Discography  |   IV M: England Through 1635   |   Latin Church Music 1460-1575: The Composers