It’s hard to see these days, but scratched into a wall at Exeter Cathedral is the name of a composer who was born four centuries ago this year, in 1622, and had a curious life that took him from being a boy chorister in Exeter (hence the graffiti) to becoming a favoured figure at the court of King Charles II – despite the fact that somewhere along the way he had openly converted to Catholicism: a decision that generally killed off hopes of a career in 17th century England.
His name was Matthew Locke, re-membered mostly for the theatre and chamber music he composed in later life. But there’s also a body of choral works that he wrote in the 1630s-40s when he was still in Exeter. What makes them interesting is that they weren’t just for the cathedral choir – which, at the time, was prominent – but for the choir with an accompany-ing consort of viols, played by former choristers who took up instruments after their voices broke.
