William Byrd‘s unparalleled legacy of sacred and secular music, written for both public and private consumption, was one in which a sophisticated musical mind seamlessly blended contrapuntal prowess and a specifically expressive intent. In the 400th anniversary year of his death (2023), it seems apposite that this recording should renew our acquaintance with some of his finest sacred music – that which exemplifies the oscillation between the rituals and traditions of Latinate Catholicism, and the requirements of a mid-16th century reformed liturgy.
Included here is a recording (released on LP only in 1981) of the Saint Thomas Choir from the years of Gerre Hancock’s leadership. It allows us to hear Byrd’s complete Great Service, the flip side of Byrd’s Latinate expression. Despite the Great Service being music in the vernacular, written for the reformed Anglican liturgy embodying Thomas Cranmer’s 1550s exhortations for textual intelligibility (‘for every syllable, a note’), Byrd sets his canticles with compelling musical complexity. They were never published in his lifetime, and a specific date for their composition has yet to be substantiated.
“This is a well thought out project, the singing is first rate and the recording quality is clear and bright.” – Cross Rhythms
“These recordings are superb. Six stars out of five.” – Organists’ Review
“We cannot have too many recordings of music this good, and when it is performed as well as it is here, we are all winners. The Choir of Saint Thomas Church, New York sings the mass with as much beauty, feeling and expertise as any historically informed ensemble… although tempi are varied judiciously during the course of the Mass, this is never to the detriment of the clarity of Byrd’s eloquent polyphony, with its sublime melodies, harmonies … and dissonances! This is a truly radiant recording.” – Early Music Review