Nicholas Ludford

At first glance it’s amazing that one of the great British composers of the 1400s largely sank from view until his works were rediscovered in 1850.

But the reason is not hard to find. When the Puritans took over England, they burned not only witches and heretics, but also books — and music! They hated the complex polyphonic choral music of the Catholics.

So, in the history of British music, between the great polyphonists Robert Fayrfax (1465-1521) and John Taverner (1490-1545), there was a k...