Tucked like a whispered secret in the final pages of the Eton Choirbook lies a marvel of late medieval polyphony—John Wylkynson’s 13-part canon, a piece so ambitious, it practically curls off the parchment with mystery. Composed around the turn of the 16th century, it is one of the most complex known musical works of its time, a spiraling Gothic architecture of sound built from a single notated voice—multiplied like a hall of mirrors into thirteen interwoven parts.
The text, "Jesus autem transiens per medium illorum ibat" ("But Jesus, passing through the midst of them, went his way"), is taken from the Gospel of Luke and speaks of Christ's calm, almost ghostly escape from danger—a perfect match for the work’s elusive beauty. The canon itself is riddle-like, intended to be deciphered by the performer, a kind of intellectual game of devotion. It’s less a performance piece than a spiritual meditation, a monastic Rubik’s cube in musical form.
Wylkynson may not be a household name today, but this mind-bending canon proves he had a flair for the spectacular and the sacred. In an age where most composers worked with three or four voices, thirteen was an otherworldly leap—a mathematical marvel, a hymn of quiet genius, hidden like a relic at the back of the book.
When Was Wylkynson's 13-Part Canon Written?
John Wylkynson composed this extraordinary canon during the late 15th or very early 16th century, most likely circa 1490–1510. Wylkynson served as master of the choristers at Eton College from 1476 until his death around 1515, and his music appears at the tail end of the Eton Choirbook—a lavish manuscript compiled roughly between c. 1500 and 1505.
When Was It Found?
The Eton Choirbook itself never vanished entirely—it has survived in the Eton College Library for centuries—but interest in Wylkynson's 13-part canon specifically resurfaced in the 20th century, as musicologists began to explore the manuscript’s many layers. The canon appears on the final folio of the manuscript, almost like a hidden bonus track, and because it’s cryptically notated, it remained underappreciated until modern scholarship began untangling its intricacies.
Details
- Likely written: c. 1490–1505
- Rediscovered/appreciated: 20th century scholarly revival
- Found in: Final page of the Eton Choirbook, held at Eton College Library
