Search - William [Composer] Byrd, Chanticleer :: Music for a Hidden Chapel

Excellent music, faulty presentation

N. Haggin | Illinois, United States | 08/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a fan of both William Byrd and Chanticleer, I find no fault with either the composer or musicians on this recording. Chanticleer's sound is burnished as always, and well-represented by the engineers, and one has the joy of hearing some of Byrd's less well-known music (the Mass Proper setttings in his Gradualia of 1607). Byrd was superb at making much out of little, as he had to when composing music for clandestine Masses in the houses of Catholic noblemen.



My only criticism is with the presentation; while acknowledging that Classical Express is Harmonia Mundi's low-price line, this album could have been much improved by splitting individual selections into their own tracks, and including the texts in the liner notes instead of referring the listener to a website. These are both minor points, however, and the former is much more irritating than the latter.



Recommended."

A voice teacher and early music fan

George Peabody | Planet Earth | 01/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"HE KEPT HIS HEAD!!!!



A Catholic in Protestant England of Queen Elizabeth had to be careful to keep his head, in every sense of the word. Wm Byrd (1543-1623), by writing for the Protestant Church a Great Service and a Short Service, and for the Papists three masses, besides Madrigals, anthems and hymns, remained in the good graces of both factions.



In his position as Master of Musicke, he was called upon for music for every sort of occasion, and rose nobly to the challenge, inventing new types of composition as need arose. He composed a number of songs with string quartet accompaniments, actually the first vocal solos in which instruments played the part purely of accompaniment.





The music on this disc is in some ways very different from the ideal 16th century motet, and from the rest of Byrd's output. The words are set succinctly even tersely, in a manner that seems understated until after repeated hearings, the richness of its subtext emerges in the ear. One of the reasons for the music's restraint is its liturgical purpose; decorum or appropriateness was the highest aesthetic principle of the age, which Byrd fully respected. Thus, it was not written to be sung by large ranks of male choristers in large Gothic cathedrals, but for small private family worship and performed with a handful of trained musicians under the composer's direction. The intimacy of the music nevertheless encourages a certain spiritual intensity that Byrd had not attempted in his earlier motets.





There is no better group than Chanticleer (named after the Rooster in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales) to sing this literature. They are correct in every aspect : vocal accuracy as to pitch and tone quality; excellent balance between the parts and superior emotional investment. Just a great listen!!!!!





Following is a list of the selections:1."In Tempore Paschali" (In Paschal Time) mass for 5 voices. 2. "Regina caeli" (Queen of Heaven)motet for 3 voices 3. "In Assumptione Beatae Mariae Virginis" (On the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary)mass for 5 voices 4. "Ave Regina caelorum" (Hail, Queen of the Heavens)antiphon for 4 voices 5. "Salve Regina"(Hail, Queen)antiphon for 4 voices





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