choirbook

Noun

choirbook (plural choirbooks)

1. (historical) A hymnal large enough to be used by an entire choir at once in a church or cathedral, and showing all the parts to be sung, used during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
   • Whereas the four who hover behind Mary sing a cantilena-style Ave regina caelorum from rotuli, the angelic choir in heaven is divided into two groups, each of which sings from a choirbook on a lectern.2011, David J. Rothenberg, The Flower of Paradise: Marian Devotion and Secular Song in Medieval and Renaissance Music, page 154
   • Antonio Gardano, who began printing music in 1538, did not produce a folio choirbook until 1562, when both an edition of magnificats by Morales and a volume of masses by Kerle appeared from his press.2015, Specialist Markets in the Early Modern Book World, page 202
2. A hymnal, especially one used by members of a choir.
   • Asked her to play a waltz , and handed her a choirbook —opened at " Corinth " and " Silver street ” — found I was wrong, and turned over the leaf to "Sinners turn, why will ye die?"—discovered that all was not right yet, and then requested her to play some sacred music, and in my anxiety to get the...1855, Q. K. Philander Doesticks, Doesticks: What He Says, page 113
   • For these reasons, the best speculation seems to be that Anne carried the choirbook with her when she left Malines for Paris and from there to England.1991, Retha M. Warnicke, The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn, page 251