Hastings Old Town organ concert to feature world’s oldest keyboard music
An organ concert at All Saints’ Church in Hastings Old Town Parish will include a performance of the oldest surviving piece of music to have been written for a keyboard.
“Estampié” from the Robertsbridge Codex was written around 1360 AD, and belonged to the medieval Cistercian Abbey in nearby Robertsbridge.
Dr Matthew Geer, Director of Music at the Old Town Parish, chose the piece to form part of his recital on Monday 11 August 2025. In addition to this historic piece, he will be performing music by Spanish Renaissance composer Antonio de Cabezón, Hungarian Franz Liszt, and the contemporary minimalist, Arvo Pärt.
The Robertsbridge Codex is one of the records belonging to the medieval Cistercian monastery located not far inland of Hastings. Discovered in the 19th century at Penshurst Place, the manuscript was found to contain a few leaves of sheet music. The “tablature” notation indicates that was written for a keyboard. Dating from 1360, it is the oldest surviving piece of keyboard music. Three of the six pages form the piece known as the “Estampié”, a dance of an Italian style of the time. The Robertsbridge Codex is now kept by the British Museum. The All Saints concert is a rare opportunity to hear the piece performed just a few miles from its original home.
Dr Geer said: “I’m very excited to be performing both the Estampie from the Robertsbridge Codex and Antonio de Cabezón’s Tiento 1 del primer tono on 11th August during the recital. For the Estampie, I’ll be drawing on 14th-century English keyboard traditions to bring out its rhythmic drive and modal character with a clear and focused approach. In the Tiento, I’ll be using contrasting sounds to highlight the different musical lines, inspired by 16th-century Iberian organ practice, where varied tone colours were used to enhance the clarity and structure of the music.”
Fr Mathew Phipps, Priest-in-Charge of the Old Town Parish, said: “It is amazing to think that this piece of music is a few decades older than our medieval church buildings. Matt’s musical talent makes the most of the famous pipe organ at All Saints, and has inspired our church choir at a time when we are expanding our junior chorister programme.”
The Old Town Parish has hosted annual concerts for 36 years to celebrate its magnificent 1878 Father Willis pipe organ. Thanks to the funds raised by previous concerts, the organ underwent a full restoration in 2021.
Dr Geer’s concert is the sixth in a series of eight through July and August. This year’s line-up has also included concert musicians Tom Bell and Francesca Massey, City of Leeds organist Darius Battiwalla, and organists from Canterbury, Rochester, Southwark, Durham, and Cork Cathedrals. Each performance includes a variety of music chosen by the performer, often mixing well-known classical composers with local and modern pieces. A full programme is available on the parish website: www.oldtownparishhastings.org.uk.
The concert takes place at All Saints Church on Monday 11 August at 7:30pm. Tickets on the door: £13 (cash or card)
Organ concerts take place every Monday evening at 7:30pm throughout July and August.