The Phoenix Rising
William BYRD (c. 1540-1623)Ave verum corpus [4:08]
Thomas TALLIS (c. 1505-1585)Salvator Mundi (I) [3:20]
William BYRD
Mass for five voices: Kyrie [1:36]; Gloria [5:29]
Thomas MORLEY (1557-1602)Nolo mortem peccatoris [3:13]
Orlando GIBBONS (1583-1625)O clap your hands together [5:34]
William BYRD
Mass for five voices: Credo [9:55]
Robert WHITE (c. 1538 - 1574)
Portico mea [6:53]
Christe qui lux es et dies (IV) [6:23]
Orlando GIBBONS
Almighty and everlasting God [2:17]
William BYRD
Mass for five voices: Sanctus and Benedictus [4:30]
Thomas TALLIS
In ieiunio et fletu [4:38]
William BYRD
Mass for five voices: Agnus Dei [3:44]
John TAVERNER (c. 1490 - 1545)O splendour gloriae [12:53]
Stile Antico.
rec. November 2012, St. Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London.
DSD
Original texts, English, French, German translations included
HARMONIA MUNDI HMU 807572
[74:34]
In a world where celebrations of anniversaries are
two-a-penny this new release from Stile Antico marks the centenary of
an important institution by celebrating one of its most significant
achievements, which it is easy to overlook.
The institution is the
Carnegie
UK Trust, established in 1913. The achievement in question is its
support for the publication of
Tudor Church Music (“
TCM”).
Between 1922 and 1929 the Trust financed the publication by Oxford University
Press of ten volumes of
TCM, which was a collected edition of
church music, most of which had never been published previously in decent
modern editions. The original intention was to publish twenty volumes
but the Trust was obliged to call a halt halfway through due to delays
and financial losses. All this information, and much more, is contained
in Matthew O’Donovan’s excellent booklet essay. In another
change R.R. Terry, the celebrated director of music at Westminster Cathedral,
who was to have been the editor of the project, was unable to fulfil
the brief and was removed.
As Matthew O’Donovan says, the project, even in its truncated
state, was a major undertaking and one which “was to transform
the musical life of the whole nation to a degree which could not have
been anticipated at the time.” In large part this was because
many of the pieces were also published separately in octavo form. In
this way they became readily available to choirs up and down the UK
- and, in time, further afield. Though O’Donovan doesn’t
use this precise term,
TCM effectively set the agenda in terms
of repertoire for the singing of Tudor music for the next fifty years
or more. The musical appetite that
TCM satisfied can be gauged,
perhaps, from the fact that between 1922 and 1930 the most popular piece
in the octavo editions sold over 16,500 copies.
That piece was Byrd’s
Ave verum corpus and it’s fitting
indeed that this should open Stile Antico’s programme, which comprises
a selection of the music that was included in
TCM. It’s
fitting also that Byrd’s exquisite piece should receive a very
fine performance, one which is beautifully balanced and controlled and
in which Stile Antico sustain the line expertly. They’re just
as successful - and for largely the same reasons - in Byrd’s Five-part
Mass, the movements of which are interspersed throughout the programme.
As well as displaying the aforementioned qualities, these fine young
singers make Byrd’s writing come alive - as they do the rest of
the music on this disc. For example, they bring an admirable forward
momentum to the outer sections of the Gloria and Credo, though never
at the expense of the sense of spaciousness that this music needs. The
Credo is particularly fine throughout and I also admired greatly their
spacious, dedicated account of the Agnus Dei.
As will be seen from the track-listing, this programme contains some
splendid examples of Tudor church music. The two Tallis pieces are very
well done, in particular the extraordinarily intense music of
In
ieiunio et fletu which is sung expertly and with fine feeling. I’m
sure Matthew O’Donovan is right to suggest that this was a musical
metaphor for the difficulties of the English Catholic recusants in the
reign of Elizabeth I. Equally admirable are the performances of the
two offerings from Robert White. In the Psalm-motet,
Portico mea
Stile Antico provide an excellent contrast between the sections for
full ensemble and those where White writes for a handful of voices.
Their performance of the earlier Compline hymn,
Christe qui lux es
et dies is marvellously atmospheric. The Morley and Gibbons pieces
come off well and it’s intelligent programming to offer two highly
contrasting works by Gibbons.
The programme culminates in one of the most opulent examples of Tudor
polyphony: Taverner’s
O splendour gloriae. Like most Tudor
pieces, we don’t know the date of composition but it must date
from the reign of Henry VIII (1509-47) who, whatever his failings, was
something of a Renaissance man and encouraged high art. Taverner’s
piece is confident, very ambitious and is conceived on a grand scale.
The writing is often rich and complex. I admire the way this Stile Antico
performance builds in fervour from relatively simple beginnings to the
magnificent, extended ‘Amen’. This piece is a masterpiece
of polyphonic invention and receives a performance fully worthy of Taverner’s
inspiration.
I’ve heard most of Stile Antico’s previous discs and this
latest one is most definitely up to the very high standards set by their
earlier releases. The twelve singers - here augmented in a few items
by one or two colleagues - always perform without a conductor yet such
is the assurance, unanimity, flow and architectural grasp of their performances
that one would never know they are not under the guiding hand of a conductor.
Clearly this is all the result of scrupulous preparation. The singing
itself is well-nigh flawless and the sound this group makes is a constant
source of pleasure.
As usual from this source production values are very high. The recorded
sound is excellent - I listened to this hybrid SACD as a conventional
CD - while the booklet is beautifully produced. This recital of glorious
music, superbly performed, is a notable centenary celebration of the
Carnegie Trust.
John Quinn