English Motets
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CD Details
- Released: March 30, 2018
- Originally Released: 2018
- Label: Hyperion
Tracks:
- 1.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkSuscipe quaeso Domine
- 2.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkVigilate
- 3.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkLoquebantur variis linguis
- 4.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkWhen David Heard
- 5.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkIf Ye Love Me
- 6.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkLibera nos, salva nos (I)
- 7.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkMiserere mei, Deus
- 8.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkChriste, qui lux es et dies (I)
- 9.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkVeni Sancte Spiritus / Veni creator Spiritus
- 10.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkHaec dies
- 11.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkQuemadmodum
- 12.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkAve Maria, mater Dei
- 13.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkO Lord, in Thy Wrath Rebuke Me Not
- 14.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkDeliver Me from Mine Enemies
- 15.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkNe irascaris, Domine: I. Ne irascaris, Domine
- 16.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkNe irascaris, Domine: II. Civitas sancti tui
- 17.The Gesualdo Six & Owain ParkLibera nos, salva nos (II)
Product Description:
All of these composers were obliged to write in the musical style of the moment, which was constantly fluctuating in one of the most turbulent periods in English history. Lavish Catholic services required suitably elaborate music, with Latin words and rich sonorities. The Protestants did away with such excess, and as the walls were whitewashed so too was the music, with demands placed on composers to set English words as simply as possible, so that every syllable could be clearly heard by the congregation. Then, in Queen Elizabeth Is reign, came a kind of relaxed simplicity, a halfway house, in which the ideal was both that the words could be heard clearly and also that the music should be interesting.
The enormous contribution to this period by Thomas Tallis and William Byrd is represented by the inclusion of three works from each composer, showcasing the versatility of their writing. While all composers in Tudor England were flexible to the periods shifting religious requirements, none was quite as skillful at reinvention than Tallis, whose musical quality remains absolutely consistent, even while his style changes dramatically. Byrd gave voice to the plight of Catholics in England through many of his compositions, utilising his royal favour to escape punishment for his beliefs, and in doing so wrote some of the most enduring and powerful music of the era.
The presented order is not a linear journey, but a grouping akin to a concert programme, where a balance of fast and slow, similarity and contrast is all brought into play. The incredible productivity of composers writing during this period, coupled with the advent of printed sheet music and licenses granted for its production has resulted in a wealth of material available to us and, as such, selecting only a handful of works to reside under the banner of The English Motet was by no means easy. But I hope that we have managed to showcase something of the extraordinary journey composition took around the English Reformation, and in turn reflect our immense enjoyment in performing the music we all grew up singing.
