Byrd - The Second Service & Consort Anthems - Harmonia Mundi: HMU907440 - download

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This disc is a benchmark - of interpretation, scholarship and programming. Both its interpretation and its dramatic re-contextualization of Byrd make even the utterly familiar (e.g. 'O Lord make... — BBC Music Magazine, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 1st Oct 2007
Catalogue No: HMU907440
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Length: 70 minutes

Byrd: Arise, O Lord

Work length3:22

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Byrd: O God that guides the cheerful sun

Work length5:43

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Byrd: Alack, when I look back

Work length5:39

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Byrd: In nomine a5 (II)

Work length2:34

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Byrd: Second Service: Magnificat

Work length4:01

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Byrd: Fantasia in D minor

Work length4:53

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Byrd: Second Service: Nunc dimittis

Work length2:13

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Byrd: In nomine a5 (IV)

Work length2:52

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Byrd: Blessed is he that fears the Lord

Work length5:17

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Byrd: Thou God that guid’st

Work length3:49

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Byrd: O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth

Work length2:53

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Byrd: Fantasia in A minor

Work length7:17

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Byrd: Lord in thy wrath

Work length3:39

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Byrd: In nomine a5 (V)

Work length2:48

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Byrd: Have mercy upon me, O God

Work length4:07

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Byrd: Why do I use my paper, inke and penne?

Work length7:13

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Byrd: Prevent Us, O Lord

Work length2:34

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Reviews
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Reviews

This disc is a benchmark - of interpretation, scholarship and programming. Both its interpretation and its dramatic re-contextualization of Byrd make even the utterly familiar (e.g. 'O Lord make thy servant Elizabeth') startlingly different. Re-contextualization is achieved by having viols replace the organ in liturgical music, and by programming domestic with church composition. That domestic and sacred music-making merged in Byrd's writing is in fact the guiding conviction of this recording. Characteristic of his genius was a facility for combining the beguilingly intimate with the grand. The use of soloists with choir in the verse anthems, the alteration of simple (homophonic) and complex (imitative) writing in the anthems, and the underpinning of soloist with
rich counterpoint in psalm settings create a sense of vertigo. Traversing the terrain of the most personal, one suddenly stands on the brink of the monumental. For this reason, using a viol consort - normally the reserve of domestic music-making - to accompany the choir makes perfect sense. Placing domestic sacred song alongside liturgical music highlights how similar was Byrd's approach to both facets of his output. But it is above all the conviction of the performance - its flawless ensemble, radiant boy trebles and sensitivity to implied rhetoric - that carries the argument. Covey-Crump's creamy colour imbues solo passages with a secular feel, as does the confidence of Roberts' delivery. Fretwork has rarely played more passionately or with greater refinement. The conceits of imagination in Byrd's keyboard fantasias prove a wellspring for Leonard's readings. Meticulousness of engineering and research inform all aspects of this disc's production. Here is a recording whose ingenuity approaches that of the composer it celebrates

October 2007

This disc is a benchmark - of interpretation, scholarship and programming. …it is above all the conviction of the performance - its flawless ensemble, radiant boy trebles and sensitivity to implied rhetoric - that carries the argument. Rogers Covey-Crump's creamy colour imbues solo passages with a secular feel, as does the confidence of Stefan Roberts's delivery. Fretwork has rarely played more passionately or with greater refinement. Here is a recording whose ingenuity approaches that of the composer it celebrates.

14th December 2007

there are two major soloists: on-loan from the Hilliard Ensemble is Rogers Covey-Crump, who sings with impeccable shape and diction, and Magdalen's own Stefan Roberts, who seems astoundingly musically aware for his age...Organ playing from Ryan Leonard is also stylish throughout.

Daily Mail

This exquisite disc of music for choir, viols and organ does one of our great Tudor composers proud. The choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, has been doing some really wonderful work recently and it is its beautiful soft-grained
sound that makes this CD so fascinating, taking us back to the all-too-few Magdalen recordings under the late Bernard Rose.

Byrd - The Second Service & Consort Anthems

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