Search - Turner, William Byrd Choir :: Gradualia: Marian Masses

A voice teacher and early music fan

George Peabody | Planet Earth | 01/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"BECAUSE BYRD USED HIS HEAD HE KEPT IT!!!!





A Catholic in the Protestant England of Queen Elizabeth had to be careful to keep his head, in every sense of the word. William Byrd, Master of Musicke, succeeded in living to be eighty years old and dying in one piece. By writing for the Protestant Church a Great Service and a Short Service, and for the Papists three masses, besides madrigals, anthems, and hymns,he remained in the good graces of both.



William Byrd's 'Gradualia' is one of the most elaborate musical works of the English Renaissance. This large collection of Liurgical Music (109 pieces in all), was written for clandestine use by English Catholics at a time when they were forbidden to practise their religion in public. When Byrd began to compose the 'Gradualia' , he turned from the penetential and polemical extravagences of the earlier Latin motets to the narrow, carefully ordered world of the Counter-Reformation Liturgy. It was in this new context,cut off from his familiar practise of choosing colorful texts and setting them at length, that he first wrote about the 'hidden and mysterious' power of sacred words and creative response.



Today he is acknowledged as one of the most versitile, original, and creative composers of all time. The Marian Masses that form the contents of this recording include not only the Marian Feasts generally authorised in 1605, but also the Votive Masses associated with the Virgin. A Votive Mass is a Mass offered for a particular intention or purpose, either on behalf of a group of people, or, as in this case, to a saint who was thought to possess special powers of entreaty at the throne of heaven.



This recording contains motets for 3 to 5 voices that comprise the entire material for the Marian Masses. However, it's not necessary to get too involved in the structure of the mass but to simply enjoy William Byrd's polyphonic writing. There isn't a church within miles from where I live that sings any of this music at all including the Catholic churchs. That's why we all seek out recordings to satisfy our musical thirst.



The singing on this CD is exquisite, the balance always correct and the intensity of devotion always right. And no wonder if you look at the 5 voice choir: Deborah Roberts, David Cordier, Michael Chance, John Mark Ainsley and Michael George. This is a cappella singing at its greatest.



BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE TOP 1000 CDS: "...I listened to all nine 'Alleluia' settings one after another and was astonished at the variety and interest of the music....Byrd at his most impressive and sublime here in the glorious 'Nunc Dimmittis' and in the delicate intricacy of 'Optimam partem'. The recording and performance are superb.""