The Tudors at Prayer
John TAVERNER (c.1495-1545)
Quemadmodum desiderat [6.34]
William MUNDY (c.1529-1591)
Vox patris caelestis [21.41]
Adhaesit pavimento [7.24]
Adolescentulus sum ego [5.53]
Robert WHITE (c.1538-1574)
Tota pulchra es [6.48]
Domine, quis habitabit (III) [8.38]
Thomas TALLIS (c.1505-1585)
Suscipe Quaeso [9.35]
William BYRD (c.1543-1623)
Tribue, Domine [13.08]
Magnificat/Philip Cave
rec. St. George’s Church, Chesterton, Cambridge, 14-17 January 2013
LINN CKD447 SACD [79.11]
This is, I think, the ninth CD recorded by Magnificat for Linn. Their discs
are always luxuriously packaged with largely helpful essays, coloured photographs,
superbly recorded and generous in length. Amongst their honours we must
count Philippe Rogier’s rare polychoral works (review)
and major pieces from the sixteenth century heard for example on their ‘Spem
in alium’ CD (review).
The Tudors in question on the present disc take us from the reign of Henry
VIII when Taverner was working on pieces like his Quemadmodum desiderat
cervus through the short reign of Queen Mary, when William Mundy’s
works may well have been written, to Tallis and Byrd whose Cantiones
Sacrae were dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I.
With its words taken from Psalm 42, Taverner’s Quemadmodum
is the earliest motet here. In fact it has come down to us as a textless
piece. The suggestion that these lines particularly applied to it was only
speculated by H.B. Collins in the 1920s. In this wonderfully expressive
performance the words seem to be ideal for this moving music - probably
a late work dating from about 1540.
The grandest non-mass setting of the entire period is Vox patris caelestis
by Mundy, which weighs in at well over twenty minutes. It is a setting in
nine sections of an expansion of a section from The Song of Songs. Philip
Cave is quite leisurely in his approach whereas The Sixteen under Harry
Christopher (Hyperion
CDA66319) knock four minutes off its length by quite dramatically moving
on the middle sections. Both approaches have their strengths and the work
is clearly a masterpiece not least in its variety of vocal colourisations.
Two other works by Mundy are represented. Whereas the above piece is in
the massive and florid style of Taverner or even the Eton Choir Book, the
two psalm motets Adhaesit pavimento and Adolescentulus
sum ego are more in the closely imitative style cultivated on the
continent by Josquin and Gombert but with an occasional English cadence
thrown in to give the music a more local character. This latter motet here
performed by male voices is a very expressive piece and was also recorded
by The Sixteen who seem to be almost careful in comparison with the more
vigorous approach of Magnificat.
The Song of Songs, that most surprising and often quite erotic book found
in the Old Testament, is well represented with a setting of Tota pulcra
est by Robert White. White was a composer, like his contemporary Robert
Parsons, who died young and who has a definite sound of his own. I’m
not going to attempt to analyse it but it is very expressive and spacious
if a little archaic for its time. The piece has a clear plainchant in the
tenor part. The psalm motet Domine, quis habitabit is more in the
closely imitative style which grows in intensity until its final ‘non
movebitur in aeternum, A-men’.
By the time Tallis’s Suscipe, quaeso Domine was published
in the 1575 collection of Cantiones Sacrae, the florid melismatic
style of his youth in motets like Ave Dei Patris Filia were ‘old
hat’. Composers couldn’t stop writing polyphony but this later
work is clear in its lines and overall expressive qualities, which were
more in keeping with the demands of the Elizabethan age. I say that with
a little question mark as Chapelle du Roi under Alistair Dixon recorded
the piece (in a much faster performance) for Signum in 1997 on a CD entitled
‘Music for Queen Mary’ (review).
Indeed its penitential mood may fit better into the earlier reign. Even
so it’s a fine if little known work.
From the same collection comes Byrd’s Tribue, Domine stands
as one of his most sincerely worked motets from this time and comes towards
the end of the historic publication. It is basically a hymn of praise to
God and sets words by St. Augustine. In truth it represents the type of
votive antiphon found thirty or so years earlier but it is a memorably melodic
work. This performance is more restrained and thoughtful than I have heard
before and this brings out its lyrical side even more.
I am personally familiar with the church in Chesterton where this recording
was made. It is a spacious building with a pleasing resonance and in a generally
quiet area; ideal in fact for this repertoire and choir. Philip Cave realises
how to work with this venue and with the Linn engineers creates
a warm and sonorous sound.
Texts are provided but the typeface although elegant is not always conducive
to visual clarity.
Gary Higginson
Previous review: John Quinn
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