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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Byrd: The Great Serviceand other English music
The Cardinall’s Musick are acknowledged as the foremost performers of Byrd’s music. Under their director Andrew Carwood they have recorded the complete Latin church music, the final volume of which won the Gramophone Record of the Year. Now they turn to Byrd’s English church music, a genre which shows the composer treading a path between his own innate Catholicism and the requirements of the reformed Church of England. But far from sublimating Byrd’s genius this difficult situation gave rise to one of his most fertile periods. The Great Service was described as ‘the finest unaccompanied setting of the Service in the entire repertory of English church music’ upon its discovery in 1922. Written for ten voices, it is gorgeously lavish and grand—very different to the simple, unmelismatic style demanded by the Anglican clerics. Byrd did not publish it in his lifetime. Also recorded here are five beautiful English settings on sacred themes, but probably written for performance in the home. They are masterpieces in miniature: each work is so distinctive and demonstrates Byrd’s genius for word-painting, his typically Elizabethan wit and of course his imaginative handling of polyphony. “The singing is neat, clear and fluid, with beautifully elastic phrasing from the two tenors. The Nunc Dimittis provides the sweetest moments in the Great Service itself” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2012 **** “This is good news indeed...Carwood is particularly good at lightening the mood when Byrd adopts triple time...[The Great] really needs a larger body of singers for the contrast between 'verse' and 'full' sections to be effective. In the Magnificat the proud aren't scattered vigorously enough for my taste...Don't be put off by my reservations: the performances overall are excellent” Gramophone Magazine, December 2012 “this new recording is something special. Wheter it's because of the sheer experience of having sung so much of Byrd's music as to have assimilated his musical language utterly, or whether it's simply the raw musicianship and cultivated intelligence of the performers, there's a clarity and intensity in each verse that is spine-tingling.” International Record Review, December 2012 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | The Rose Consort of ViolsThe Rose Consort of Viols explore the repertoire of 4 important English composers - Thomas Tallis, Christopher Tye, William Byrd & Thomas Tomkins
Clare Wilkinson (mezzo soprano) Four Gentleman of the Chapel “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 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Epiphany at St Paul’s
Hyperion’s long series of St Paul’s recordings is graced by an addition dedicated to music for Epiphany, a companion disc to Advent at St Paul’s. In the Christian Church year, Epiphany is the period after Christmas commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the Magi, celebrated on 6 January. The programme embraces music from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, from Bach to Bingham, and includes many long-established favourites by Wesley, Cornelius, Howells and others. “Hurrah for John Scott and St Paul’s, who with this wonderful CD remind all how glorious the Epiphany repertoire is … every piece is approached as if it were the finest thing ever written, and joy is taken in rendering the simple beautiful … let us rejoice at the richness of this programme” Organists Review “Luminous with a sense of goodness and well-being, brightest and best of choral records for the last many months … a distinguished record” Gramophone Magazine “This series is the richest treasure trove an Anglican musician or English choral buff could hope to find. Texts and notes are an Anglophile’s dream. Sound is stunningly rich and ringing” American Record Guide “Fascinatingly diverse anthology … a tonal brightness and rhythmic vitality that sparkle with festive brilliance” BBC Music Magazine “The eclectic and thoughtful repertoire mix make for compelling listening … warmly recommended” Classic FM Magazine “The choral tone is pleasant, the soloists are well chosen, and the recorded balance keeps everything in perspective” Fanfare “This sequence, first released a decade ago, of 17 hymns and carols for Epiphany admirably avoids seasonal cliché (these aren’t Christmas carols, after all) and, more than that, offers an intermittent stiffening of sublime polyphonic music by Byrd and Marenzio...Holst’s eight-part Nunc dimittis is particularly invigorating.” Sunday Times, 18th December 2011 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Ave verum CorpusMotets and anthems of William Byrd
'exceptional performances by this quite wonderful group of singers'
Church Music Quarterly | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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