John Holmes (d. 1629) was respectively Organist (c.1599–1621) at Winchester Cathedral and Master of the Choristers (1621–9) at Salisbury Cathedral, and one of the earliest and most important provincial composers of verse anthems and services. This fine setting of the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis is preserved only as a keyboard score in the Batten organ book; the editor has reconstructed the six vocal parts from the organ part. It is unusual both in its scoring ‘for trebles’ (a rare boy’s voice pitched a third or fourth higher than the usual ‘mean’ or boy alto) and its designation ‘in medio chori’, which surely refers to a group of three verse soloists (or perhaps a small semi-chorus) placed ‘in the middle of the choir’ between and at some distance from the decani and cantoris ‘sides’. For six voices: TrTrMATB and organ. i + 26 pages. ISMN 979-0-57039-167-7.
