Adam lay ybounden, believed to date from c1400, originated as a macaronic text based on Genesis Chapter 3 and relating to the Fall of Man. The British Library speculated that the text may have belonged to a wandering minstrel. According to medieval theology, Adam remained in bonds with other patriarchs in the limbus patrum (or limbo) from the time of his death until released by Christ’s death four thousand years later. No musical settings from the 15th century have survived, but several 20th-century composers have written choral versions. The one recorded here is by Philip Ledger (1937-2012), who was Director of Music at King’s College Cambridge from 1974 to 1982.

from notes by Phillip Borg-Wheeler © 2020