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Byrd - The Great Service & English Anthems

£13.98

In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day

Label: Inventa Records

Cat No: INV1015

Barcode: 5060262793862

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Vocal/Choral

Release Date: 20th September 2024

Works

Byrd, William

Arise, O Lord, why sleepest thou
Clarifica me, Pater, BK47
Clarifica me, Pater, BK48
Clarifica me, Pater, BK49
Exalt thyself, O God
How long shall mine enemies
O God, the proud are risen
O God, whom our offences
O Lord, make thy servant Charles
Out of the deep
The Great Service

Artists

Alamire
His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts
Stephen Farr (organ)

Conductor

David Skinner

Works

Byrd, William

Artists

Alamire
His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts
Stephen Farr (organ)

Conductor

David Skinner

About

Alamire, under the direction of David Skinner, complete their survey of the choral works of William Byrd to mark the composer’s 400th anniversary with this landmark recording of The Great Service and seven anthems.

Emerging from centuries of obscurity, Byrd’s Great Service, first revived in the early twentieth century, represents a pinnacle of English choral music.

This recording commemorates the centenary of its modern debut in 1924. With intricate polyphony and poignant text settings, Byrd’s masterful use of ten voices reveals his unparalleled skill in capturing the essence of the Anglican liturgy.

Complemented by seven anthems, this album offers a comprehensive exploration of Byrd’s rich, spiritual, and historical musical contributions.

Sound/Video

Paused

1

The Great Service 1. Venite
2

The Great Service 2. Te Deum
3

The Great Service 3. Benedictus
4

The Great Service 4. Kyrie
5

The Great Service 5. Creed
6

The Great Service 6. Magnificat
7

The Great Service 7. Nunc Dimitt
8

Clarifica me pater I
9

O God the proud are risen against
10

Out of the deep
11

O God whom our offences
12

Clarifica me pater II
13

Arise O Lord why sleepest thou
14

How long shall mine enemies
15

Exalt thyself, O God
16

Clarifica me pater III
17

O Lord make thy servant Charles

Europadisc Review

Although it’s regarded by many experts as ranking among its composer’s greatest musical achievements, William Byrd’s Great Service owes its name not to its considerable aesthetic status, but rather to its dimensions. A setting of the sung movements for the three main services of the Anglican liturgy – Mattins, Holy Communion and Evensong – it is lavishly scored for two five-part choirs, divided antiphonally (cantoris and decani). Solo sections are frequently contrasted with fuller tuttis, so that at least ten singers per choir are needed, a total of twenty singers in all. This ambitious scale ensured that the Great Service was only performable by the grandest of ecclesiastical settings, such as the monarch’s Chapel Royal (of which Byrd was a Gentleman from 1572), as well as the great cathedrals of Durham, York and Worcester, where it has survived in manuscript forms.

Unpublished in Byrd’s lifetime, the Great Service – likely composed in the 1590s – effectively ‘disappeared’ for some three centuries after his death, but was rediscovered and pieced together by the great scholar of Tudor music, Edmund Fellowes, and received its modern revival on 31 May 1924, a year after the Byrd tricentennial celebrations. To mark the centenary of that important occasion, the professional vocal consort Alamire, under the direction of David Skinner, have now added it to the series of Byrd recordings on their own label, Inventa (part of the Resonus stable). Previous discs have included the complete Psalms, Sonets and Songs (1588), and the 1589 Songs of Sundrie Natures, both of which – graced by Julian Hindson’s witty cover art – have been greeted with wide acclaim.

On both those earlier releases, Alamire teamed up with the instrumentalists of the Fretwork viol consort. For the Great Service, however, they are partnered by four players from His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts, reviving a practice of choral music bolstered by wind instruments which was common in larger church establishments of the 16th and 17th centuries. Typically, these reinforcements consisted of just two cornetts and two sackbuts, and here they double the top and bottom lines of the five-part texture in each choir in the tuttis. Thus strengthening the outermost parts, and with further accompaniment by Stephen Farr on organ, the effect is sumptuous, and unlike any other recording of the Great Service we’ve heard.

Add to that the superb technical aplomb and radiant musicality of the singers themselves – among them, sopranos Rachel Haworth and Anna Semple and bass Owain Park – and it’s little wonder that this performance of the Great Service so consistently hits the spot. With three sopranos in each choir on the top line, and two each for the lower lines (tenors 1 & 2, baritone and bass), the words are projected with ease in the tuttis, and there's a glowing quality to the sound, as recorded in All Hallows Gospel Oak. Skinner’s pacing is especially masterly in the larger-scale movements: the Te Deum and Benedictus from Mattins, and the Magnificat from Evensong. The antiphonal interplay is well-caught, and the solo sections have an inwardness which nevertheless doesn’t disrupt the music’s glorious arcs. The brilliantly conceived closing pages of the Te Deum have a particularly striking impact in this marvellous realisation.

Alamire follow up the Great Service with a selection of some of Byrd’s finest English anthems, ranging from the early How long shall mine enemies and the cool, understated beauty of O God whom our offences, via the two-anthems-in-one Arise O Lord why sleepest thou to the splendid six-voice O God the proud are risen against me (like the Great Service, a late work). Punctuating the anthems, Farr plays the three nicely contrasted keyboard settings of Clarifica me, pater, sounding neatly contained on what appears to be the characterful ‘Bach 2000’ chamber organ by Robert Jennings. Closing the disc is the wonderfully reflective anthem O Lord make thy servant Charles, originally composed for Elizabeth I, but as retexted for Charles I, Charles II and, most recently, Charles III. Its beatific ‘Amen’ makes a moving close to an enthralling disc which demonstrates the magnificent beauties of Byrd’s English-texted sacred music.

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Condition	Description
New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
Used - Mint	Used item in excellent condition. Not usually seal-wrapped.
Used - Good	Used item with some minor signs of wear and tear. Never seal-wrapped.
Used - Acceptable	Used item with obvious scuffs or cosmetic damage to the case or booklet. Never seal-wrapped.

Condition	Description
New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
Used - Mint	Used item in excellent condition. Not usually seal-wrapped.
Used - Good	Used item with some minor signs of wear and tear. Never seal-wrapped.
Used - Acceptable	Used item with obvious scuffs or cosmetic damage to the case or booklet. Never seal-wrapped.

Byrd - The Great Service & English Anthems

In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day

Despatch Information

Contents

Works

Artists

Conductor

Works

Artists

Conductor

About

Sound/Video

Paused

Europadisc Review

Also Available

£22.95

£13.98

£22.95

£12.83

£13.98

Condition Information

Condition Information