By the time Byrd came
to publish his collections of motets,
Cantiones Sacrae, in 1589 and
1591 both he and his family were under
investigation by the authorities for
being Roman Catholics. Though Byrd himself
seems to have had some degree of immunity,
courtesy of Queen Elizabeth herself,
this did not stop his family being harassed.
It is all the more
remarkable then, that he published two
substantial volumes of Latin motets.
Few of the motets set liturgical texts
so Byrd can hardly have intended them
for be used in church, even though the
Chapel Royal did still occasionally
sing Latin motets. Educated Protestant
families who bought these volumes probably
used them as a sort of vocal chamber
music, singing these substantial pieces
in their own home. After all, though
Latin was no longer used in the Church
of England it was still learned by educated
men.
But the motets had
another, more secret purpose. The texts
can all be read as having references
to captivity and confinement. One of
the most political Ne irascaris
refers to Zion being a wilderness and
Jerusalem a desolation; Byrd highlights
this with homophonic chords. Ironically
the motet is also one of his most affecting.
Even a joyful motet like Laetentur
coeli can be read as political with
its repetition of ‘he shall take pity
on his afflicted people’. It was using
these coded texts that Byrd was able
to send a message of support to his
fellow recusants.
In the 1590s Byrd retired
to the estates of Roman Catholic peer
Lord Petre and from there he published
his remarkable trio of mass settings.
These were followed by another, greater
work, the Gradualia; nothing
less than a complete setting of the
propers (texts particular to a certain
day or season) for the mass; the first
such major undertaking since the Choralis
Constantius of Heinrich Isaac. Quite
how many of these lovely motets were
used in actual services is difficult
to assess as we have few recorded descriptions
of recusant masses, though there is
at least one description of Byrd playing
the organ at a Roman Catholic mass.
Though motets from
the Gradualia include some of
Byrd’s finest work, like Ave Verum
Corpus and Senex puerum,
they are, by and large, short and rather
difficult to programme. For their new
recital the choir of Hereford Cathedral
under their director, Geraint Bowen,
have produced a well balance programme
which mixes the longer motets from Cantiones
Sacrae with motets from the Gradualia
and also English motets and two pairs
of Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis settings.
The result, which might have been a
little indigestible, works well as a
programme thanks to Byrd’s genius and
the fact that he was able to create
miracles out of small as well as large
things.
The choir seem most
at home in the English items, perhaps
because these, such as the beautifully
turned Sing Joyfully, are part
of their regular repertoire. The Magnificat
and Nunc Dimittis settings are nicely
done, but I’m afraid that I did have
my doubts about the vocal quality of
some of the soloists.
This is where I am
going to have to admit that I was rather
disappointed with this disc. However
much I might appreciate the programme
itself, I felt that on few of these
items did the choir display itself in
the very best light. Those items where
the choir shone were the quiet, well-blended
ones such as Ave verum corpus
and Justorum animae, but elsewhere
small problems seemed to recur. One
is the issue of blend; too often I found
individual voices standing out from
the adult men. For example there is
a passage in Ne irascaris where
one of the tenors is alarmingly prominent,
and similarly one of the altos in Laetentur
caeli. Elsewhere there were more
general blend problems, issues of poor
vocal tone quality and hints of strain
in the upper alto line (in Non vos
relinquam). Against a number of
the motets my notes also refer to general
issues of untidiness, particularly in
the faster sections.
None of these problems
is major, but their recurrence in so
many of the motets is rather distressing.
I did wonder why it happened. It might
be that the choir was having an off
day, after all we are talking about
trying to fit in recording sessions
around the rather taxing daily schedule
of a cathedral choir. With a choir of
this size (only three altos, three tenors
and three basses) finding time to polish
material for recording must be difficult.
But another possible
problem might be with the recording
itself. Was the choir recorded too closely
for comfort, allowing us to hear more
of the vocal processes than we would
do if we were seated in Hereford Cathedral.
There are good things
on the disc, but few items really stand
out. A recording such as this is a great
disappointment because you know that
it does not reflect the abilities of
a fine choir when they are heard live;
I just hope that Hereford are able to
issue a disc which more accurately reflects
their abilities.
Robert Hugill
LINK
Robert
Hugill’s blog
Peter Dyke (Organ) 
