Rare find in Devon brings back monks' music after five centuries

Almost five centuries ago, a community of monks in the West Country gathered to sing, imploring God to help them endure the challenges of medieval life.

- Steven Morris

And thanks to an extraordinary discovery of music that survived Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, songs created by the Buckland Abbey monks rang out again across the Tavy valley in Devon over the weekend.

The themes are heavy – the threats from disease and crop failures, not to mention powerful rulers – but the polyphonic style is bright and joyful, a contrast to the mournful chants most associated with monks.

"It's an extraordinary rich, textured sound," said Prof James Clark, a University of Exeter historian, as the university's chapel choir rehearsed at Buckland. "They are all singing together but following different melodies. It's a sort of melodious cacophony of sound."