Tallis: Suscipe quaeso Domine

“Clare Wilkinson's pure Mezzo voice emerges from the mists of time in the opening antiphon by Talllis, sustaining and beautifully articulating the text. …the Rose Consort play in a sublimely unfussy, unfettered manner worthy of the music.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2008

All hail the über-choir …… The Independent

‘This superbly sung selection of some of his finest Latin church music will surely prove to be one of Tallis’s very best 500th birthday presents. It is hard to imagine a better performance of the magnificent six-part votive antiphon Gaude gloriosa’ (The Daily Telegraph)

“[In Spem in alium] Parrott's sure touch tells in the form: the first entry is clear and confident...the first Mexican wave spreads inexorably, the arrival on the second tutti rings out like a clarion-call, the antiphonal section doesn't flag, the initial 'Respice' is solemn and arresting, and the final tutti gloriously full-bodied.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2010

“Contrasts abound: Byrd’s florid three-section Tribue Domine is almost Marian in its vastness, while Tallis’s hymn setting O nata lux de lumine is brevity itself...The dozen singers perform expressively and blend beautifully throughout, while Skinner, who adopts a commonsense approach to pitch standards, injects passion into every note.” Sunday Times, 30th January 2011 ****

“They use solo voices throughout, mixed voices with a fairly open sound that brings with it more vibrato than we are used to hearing in such music nowadays...That results in performances that are refreshingly free of self-indulgence. Some of the big Byrd pieces in particular are very good indeed.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2011

“The prevailing mood is penitential, but the pieces are never dull; there's much delight to be had in listening to the way the individual voice parts weave in and out...Skinner gets his singers to bring [the false relations] out so that they send shivers down your spine...[He] shapes the music extremely well.” Classic FM Magazine, March 2011 ****

“Homophonic passages impress with their splendour, enriched here by the chestnut hues of basses William Gaunt and Robert Macdonald. The clarity of line lays bare the ingenuity of counterpoint, no matter how thick the texture becomes - a formidable achievement in Byrd's 'double imitation' motets.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2011 ***

“This is the first time the Cantiones Sacrae has been recorded complete and 'in the original order intended by the composers themselves'...An auspicious beginning to a mighty undertaking.” International Record Review, May 2011

“The variety of Tallis's music is amply demonstrated in this issue… This breadth of range allows the choir to show off a correspondingly wide range of expressive and interpretative skills.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2006

“The illuminating insert-notes place Mary's short reign within the bewilderingly stormy context of the 16th century with a calm understanding that enables the listener to see how this Latin music came to be written. Incidentally, the first piece was originally an English setting of Beatus vir. Sandon says it falls naturally into place with its Latin text. But the verses in the booklet don't exactly correspond to what's being sung, which raises an unnecessary question mark. Sandon's edition of the Proper Salisbury chants for the Third Mass of Christmas are performed between the polyphonic items. Meticulously researched, they serve as a foil to the sumptuous settings of the Ordinary.
If only they had been sung with more solemnity and gusto, omitting those irritating little bursts of volume on the high notes! All these chants would have sounded more authentic at a slower tempo with the occasional semi-metrical dactyl: as it is, they comes across rather as a poor relation beside the magnificence of Tallis's seven-part polyphony.
The polyphonic singing is exemplary, the clarity of the individual parts and the rhythmic interplay well under control. The singers enter into the spirit of the liturgical texts, in particular in the third section of the Agnus Dei. Their interpretation of the final motet, Gaude gloriosa, at times almost touches the visionary.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010