Byrd Gradualia (excs)
Byrd’s music for the english counter-Reformation that never happened
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: William Byrd
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Musica Omnia
Magazine Review Date: 7/2009
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 78
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: MO0302
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Circumspice Jerusalem |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Fantasia, D minor No. 1 |
William Byrd, Composer
Robert Quinney, Organ William Byrd, Composer |
| Why do I use my paper, ink and pen? |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Votive Mass of the Blessed Sacra, Movement: Trope: Ab ortu solis |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Votive Mass of the Blessed Sacra, Movement: Venite, comedite panem meum (replaces all in Lent) |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Votive Mass of the Blessed Sacra, Movement: Alleluias: Alleluia, Cognoverunt/Alleluia, Caro me |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Votive Mass of the Blessed Sacra, Movement: Antiphon: Ego sum panis vivus |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Votive Mass of the Blessed Sacra, Movement: Antiphon: O quam suavis est |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Votive Mass of the Blessed Sacra, Movement: Hymn: Iesu nostra redemptio |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Fantasia |
William Byrd, Composer
Robert Quinney, Organ William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Movement: Introit: Nunc scio vere |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Movement: Gradual: Constitues eos ... Domine |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Movement: Alleluia: Solve iubente Deo (Feast of St Peter's C |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Movement: ~ |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Movement: Antiphon: Hodie Simon Petrus |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Movement: Antiphon: Tu es pastor ovium |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Gradualia, Vol 2: Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Movement: Antiphon: Quodcunque ligaveris |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
| Ut re mi fa sol la |
William Byrd, Composer
Robert Quinney, Organ William Byrd, Composer |
| Venite exultemus Domino |
William Byrd, Composer
Ensemble Plus Ultra Michael Noone, Conductor William Byrd, Composer |
Author: Fabrice Fitch
In a fine extended introductory essay Michael Noone suggests that Byrd’s Gradualia stand out in his output, on account of the demands they make of singers’ agility. I confess that I’d never been so forcibly struck by that point as now: these pieces (of which a generous selection is offered on this disc) are here emphatically presented as music for soloists. Equally striking is the interpretational decision to sing out; it is perhaps too conveniently forgotten by the many collegiate institutions for whom Byrd’s music is so quintessentially English (as it is, of course) that he and his coreligionists were constantly persecuted. We don’t know just how far the establishment went in turning a blind eye to Byrd’s recusancy; what’s certain is that torture and execution were a matter of routine. Here is not the domesticated sound of Anglicanism, then, but the covert and impassioned utterance of a faith wearing its heart on its sleeve – albeit in private.
The recorded sound reflects these conditions: the acoustic is gently resonant but hardly reverberant; and the chamber organ under Robert Quinney’s fingers is both full and intimate in tone. We’re thereby allowed to hear more of the singers’ natural vocal qualities, and if at times a hint of roughness threatens as a result, the music seems to gain immeasurably in immediacy. The cycle of Propers devoted to the feasts of St Peter and St Paul is particularly involving, being scored for six voices and richly elaborate. The best results are obtained on a reasonably powerful and similarly grainy sound system.
Byrd Gradualia (excs)
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