One cannot but marvel at the cool fearlessness of the ageing composer who took upon himself to publish his three Mass settings and the two volumes of his Gradualia in the face of constant danger for Catholic recusants. On this CD the five movements of Byrd’s Mass for five voices are interspersed with the five pieces of the Proper for the Feast of Corpus Christi. We can therefore transport ourselves back in time to the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth century, and imagine their being performed, in early summer, at a live celebration of Mass in one of the great houses of the Catholic nobility, such as Ingatestone Hall.
Winchester Cathedral Choir have purposely sought out an enclosed space in the great cathedral to make this recording, so that the sound captures something of the immediacy of singers performing in a small hidden room, like one of those recusant chapels at Harvington Hall with their whitewashed walls, daubed with the blood of martyrs. I was particularly struck by the quality of the trebles – the slight edge to the gentle tone of very young singers – and also by the dovetailing, the teamwork of the whole choir.
The secret of this recording lies in its unity of theme and in its understanding of Byrd’s triumphant statements of belief, expressed in music of great tenderness as well as strength. The gem of the collection is surely the last piece – from the Gradualia ac cantiones sacrae – Byrd’s well-known Ave verum corpus, quietly understated.'