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The Eton Choirbook
Ian Partridge (tenor), Christopher Keyte (bass)
Choristers of All Saints, Margaret Street, London
Elizabethan Consort of Viols
Purcell Consort of Voices/Grayston Burgess
rec. 24-27 July 1967, Decca Studio 3, London; 19-22 October 1970, St John’s, Smith Square, London. ADD/stereo
Reviewed as streamed (no booklet)
ELOQUENCE 4840250 [2 CDs: 140:25]

In March 1968 the Decca associate Argo released a ground-breaking LP of Richard Davy’s St Matthew Passion, a setting preserved in the Eton Choirbook, that wondrous collection of English music from around 1500, a not quite complete treasury of late medieval and early renaissance works (ZRG558). As a hard-up young teacher, I allowed myself £2 per month then to spend on records and, having heard the Davy reviewed on Radio 3, blew most of that month’s allowance on that recording. At 38 shillings, the modern equivalent would be at least £45. The new Eloquence 2-CD set, with more than twice the music, can be found for around £10.50.

Even more remarkably, the LP was advertised as ‘Eton Choirbook 1’ and, indeed, there was more to come, shortly after, on ZRG557. Both LPs, and music from another recording of the time, of the music of Josquin and Dunstable or Dunstaple (ZRG681), are included here. How do these recordings, made half a century ago, shape up in the light of modern approaches to the music of the period?

Decca Australia have been releasing much of the material from associate labels Oiseau Lyre and Argo recently. Much of it has stood the test of time, as in the case of Thurston Dart’s recording of Handel’s Water Music with his Philomusica of London – modern instruments but directed by an academic musician with a sense of historical practice (4828531 – review). More recently, JW praised Jean-Max Clément’s Bach Cello Suites from 1958 – review – and MS liked a Dart recording of consort music – review – but other releases have not received such a warm welcome. I place the Eton Choirbook reissue in an intermediate category.

The reviewers of the time were not quite sure what to make of the works on these two LPs, which is often more edgy than the music of Josquin, with which they were more familiar. Nor were they easy with performances in a rather sharper style than was usually produced by cathedral and collegiate choirs. With many more recordings of the music from the Choirbook now available, on Gimell, Coro, Naxos, Avie and Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, we are much more accustomed to what to expect and to the style of singing. Most of all, it’s Ian Partridge’s singing in the Davy Passion that now seems unstylish and out of place, though that doesn’t prevent my welcoming the return of this, still the only complete recording of the work. That by Tonus Peregrinus on Naxos 8.572840 – review – review – August 2012/2 – contains only the extant half of the work; Burgess reconstructed the whole.

The Davy Passion is probably the most problematical but also the most rewarding work here. A very sparse setting, in a style little different from plainsong, except in the dramatic settings for the choir of the words of the crowd, it won’t be to all tastes. Don’t expect anything approaching the operatic style of Bach’s passions; think more of the spare style of Schütz’s St Matthew Passion, intermediate between Davy and Bach, and concentrate on the beauty of the music. All in all, I’m very pleased to have this recording available again, especially as I was informed by Decca not too long ago that it was never likely to be reissued.

About the rest of the programme, I’m less enthusiastic. Though Grayston Burgess and his performers were ahead of their game for the time, tempora mutantur, or Time marches on. With so much of the Eton Choirbook now available in better-informed recordings from a variety of ensembles, I’m not sure that we need to be reminded of these historic versions. A quick check suggests that all of the items apart from the Davy are available in at least one other version, ranging from Christ Church Cathedral’s all-male accounts – much what the composers would have expected to hear – to mixed-voice groups.

One of the longer pieces, John Browne’s Stabat Mater, has been recorded by The Tallis Scholars on an all-Browne CD (Gimell CDGIM036 or 2-for-1 set listed below), by Christ Church (Avie AV2167 – review), by Tonus Peregrinus (Naxos 8.572840 – review – review – DL Roundup August 2012/2), by The Sixteen (Coro COR16012 – review – and Meridian 723724610422, download only), by The Huelgas Ensemble (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 88765408852, download only – review) and by The Tavener Choir (Stabat Mater collection, download only). The Sixteen’s five separate CDs are available together as COR16040 and The Door to Paradise is a five-CD gathering of the Christ Church recordings (AV2395).

Burgess’s time of 14:00 for the Stabat Mater leaves the listener feeling that the piece goes on too long. Agreed that this is a setting of solemn words, the Virgin Mary grieving at the foot of the cross, but I’m not convinced that the music needs to be so damped down. The Tallis Scholars take longer, at 15:56, Christ Church take 15:28, while The Sixteen come in at 13:31. Logically, then, two of these performances should drag more and the third should sparkle a little more, but that isn’t necessarily the way that things work. The Tallis Scholars may take a broader approach, but even when setting penitential texts the composers of the English renaissance allow our minds to soar, and that’s more effectively brought out by Peter Philips and his team on their all-Browne recording.

It’s a full-price CD, but it can be downloaded from Hyperion in lossless sound, with pdf booklet, for £7.99 and in superior 24-bit for £12. Better still, much of that CD of Browne’s music, including the Stabat Mater, has been included in a 2-for-1 collection The Tallis Scholars sing Tudor Church Music – Volume 1 (CDGIM209: Bargain of the Month – review).  It’s worth noting, too, that Hyperion also offer The Tallis Scholars’ recording of the music of William Cornysh(e) from the Eton Choirbook and Caius Choirbook, plus some secular pieces, 16-bit only, again for £7.99, with pdf booklet (CDGIM014).

Comparing The Tallis Scholars and The Sixteen in an article aimed at persuading more listeners to try Tudor music, I wrote: ‘My slight preference is for the more measured approach adopted by The Tallis Scholars … though it is generally hard to choose between the slightly greater thoughtfulness of their approach and the marginally more energetic flow of The Sixteen’. Since I write that in 2008, we have had the other recordings mentioned, making choice even harder. All of them get us closer to the music than Grayston Burgess was able to in 1968. Of the Christ Church Stabat Mater, John Quinn came right to the point in noting that it’s ‘one of the jewels in the Choirbook. As befits the text, the tone of the music is quite sombre at the start but the music opens up as it unfolds and much of the full choir writing is texturally rich’.  Listening again to Tonus Peregrinus in this work confirms my preference for The Tallis Scholars, Christ Church and The Sixteen.

Performances of Josquin and Dunstaple have moved on, too, since 1970. In particular, enjoyable as these short pieces are, The Tallis Scholars are now close to having recorded all Josquin’s Masses, with their latest release of his Missa Mater Patris (possibly not by Josquin) and Bauldeweyn’s Missa Da Pacem (CDGIM052: Recommended – review – review).

Overall, despite my reservations, I found much to enjoy on this reissue. It’s worth the price of the ticket for the Davy Passion alone, and that price is much lower comparatively than when it was first issued on LP. Take the rest of the two CDs as a bonus, but do consider some of the other collections, which bring us nearer to the spirit of the composers. Having listened to The Tallis Scholars in the Browne Stabat Mater, I had to hear the rest of that recording. And, since I had that in a lower quality wma download (44.1/320k), I took the opportunity to obtain the superior 24-bit version from Hyperion.

Brian Wilson

Contents
Works from the Eton Choirbook are marked *

Richard DAVY (c.1465-1507) St Matthew Passion a 4* [41:47]
Josquin DESPRES (c.1440-1521) Petite camusette [1:39]
Cœurs désolés [2:14]
La déploration sur la mort de Johan Okeghem [4:03]
Vive le roy [1:00]
El Grillo [1:28]
La Bernardina [1:12]
Baisiez moy [1:36]
Fortuna desperata [1:36]
Ave Maria [6:24]
Walter LAMBE (1450/1?-1504) Nesciens mater a 5* [4:29]
John BROWNE (fl. 1490) Stabat Mater *[14:00]
John NESBETT (d.1488) Magnificat * [8:15]
Robert WYLKYNSON (c.1450-c.1515) Salve Regina * [11:57]
William CORNYSHE (d. 1523) Ave Maria, Mater Dei * [3:34]
Richard FAWKYNER (fl. late C15) Gaude rosa sine spina * [14:31]
John DUNSTAPLE (c.1390-1453) O rosa bella [4:24]
Ave maris stella [3:38]
Alma Redemptoris Mater [4:00]
Sancta Maria succurre miseris [2:57]
Veni Sancte Spiritus [5:40]