Bridging found sound and notation

Christopher Tye (c. 1505-before 1573), contemporary of Tallis, was one of the first composers to compose 'chamber music' (i.e. music in several parts or voices for small groups of instruments like viols). His work shows the direct bridge between the sung (Latin) polyphonic tradition and this new form of musical expression through instrumental music. He composed 24 'in nomines' - pieces for instruments formed around a piece of chant derived from John Tavener's mass. One of them is very distinctive because it departs entirely from the original religious mood and captures the sound of mid-16th century London with its town cryers. This fascinating bridge seems to offer a way to bridge the gap or tension detectable in modern musical aesthetics between sonic art and the music of the concert hall. So, on the one hand I think the last section of my Sinfonia to be composed will be an 'in nomine' (picking up and running with the idea of an earthy 'triple' time section). But thinking about Tye has led me to the amazing London Sound Survey http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/ where one can explore actual recorded songs and calls of town cryers and stall sellers active in London in the 1930s. Early days, but starting to transcribe some of these shouts, calls and crys to see if they might find some echo in the mix of this new sketch/composition...