’Masters of the Rolls [Christopher Page informs us] is the name we have given to the English composers of the fourteenth century, almost all of whom are anonymous ... [and whose] compositions were often copied out on rolls like those shown on the front illustration of this CD. ‘The only other anthologies I can recall of this period are Denis Stevens’s commendable mid-1970s anthology with the Ambrosian Singers on Archiv and a superb Hilliard Ensemble recording from the 1980s (Harmonia Mundi, 5/87). And as usual, only anonymity can account for the discography’s neglect. There is little duplication with The Hilliard’s collection (barring Singularis laudis digna, which Gothic Voices have already recorded on ‘The Service of Venus and Mars’, Hyperion, 11/87) , and both have equal claim to a space on the listener’s shelf. The later version of Singularis laudis digna testifies to Page’s more lyrical (dare I say ‘mellower’?) approach ten years on. Vibrato is no longer taboo, melismas are phrased through, no longer delivered staccato. One also has a more grateful, over-arching impression of the piece’s overall form. In short, it is a more aestheticized view of the style; some may miss the rough edges of the earlier version for their bracing quality, but Page has rarely recorded a piece twice, and never without something new to say. The attributes of the new version might stand for the disc as a whole.
As the reader may have guessed, I probably do miss Gothic Voices’ old abrasiveness (of which there is still a strong hint in the tenor motets) , but repeated listening increases my pleasure in a fascinating collection of pieces: there is nothing here that fails to compel. And as so often, Page’s programming draws the listener into other spheres of ‘period consciousness’: I especially enjoyed the plainsong pieces, whose texts parody established chants. They are in fact political pamphlets in praise of one of Edward II’s chief tormentors, Thomas of Lancaster. More than six centuries on, they still pack a punch.'