Aleyn

(fl c1400). English composer. He was the composer of two works in the Old Hall Manuscript. One is a Gloria (no.8), ascribed to ‘Aleyn’ without initial; it is a homorhythmic setting in score, notable for its sprightly text declamation. The other piece, also in score, is an erased descant setting of Sarum Agnus Dei no.3 (Old Hall, no.128), where the remains of the ascription appears to read ‘W. Aleyn’ (not ‘W. Typp’, as reported in D. Fallows: A Catalogue of Polyphonic Songs, 1415–1480, Oxford, 1999). If his initial was indeed ‘W.’, identification with the composer of the motet Sub Arturo plebs, Johannes Alanus, cannot stand.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

M. Bent: The Old Hall Manuscript: a Paleographical Study (diss., U. of Cambridge, 1969)

A. Hughes and M. Bent, eds.: The Old Hall Manuscript, CMM, xlvi (1969–73)

For further bibliography see Old Hall Manuscript.

MARGARET BENT