Byrd: Ave Verum Corpus (Motets and Anthems)

The Cambridge Singers (Artist), Georg Bohm (Composer), William Byrd (Composer), John Rutter (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: John Rutter
• Composer: Georg Bohm, William Byrd
• Audio CD (September 11, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collegium Records
• ASIN: B0000031HD
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,491 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Sing Joyfully, anthem for 6 voices (SSAATB)

2. Turn our captivity, O Lord, anthem for 6 voices (SSAATB)

3. Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, anthem for 6 voices (SSATTB)

4. Emendemus in melius, motet for 5 voices (SATTB)

5. Siderum Rector (also anthem 'Lord God Almighty'), motet for 5 voices (SSATB)

6. Plorans Ploravit, motet for 5 voices (SAATB)

7. Visita quaesumus Domine, motet for 4 voices (SSAT)

8. Attollite portas (also anthems: 'Let us arise' & 'Lift up your heads'), motet for 6 voices (SSAATB)

9. Laudibus in sanctus (also anthem 'Praise the Lord among His Holy ones'), motet for 5 voices (SSATB)

10. Gaudeamus omnes (from All Saints), motet for 5 voices (SSATB)

11. Ave verum corpus (also anthem: 'O Lord, God of Israel'), motet for 4 voices (SATB)

12. Veni sancte Spiritus, et emite, motet for 5 voices (SSATB)

13. Christus resurgens, motet for 4 voices (STBB)

14. Solve iubente Deo, motet for 6 voices (SSATTB)

15. O magnum misterium, motet for 4 voices (SATB)

16. Non vos relinquam Orphanos, motet for 5 voices (SSATB)

17. O quam suavis est, motet for 4 voices (SATB)

18. Justorum animae (also anthem 'Souls of the righteous'), motet for 5 voices (SSATB)

Customer Reviews

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hail, true music, October 1, 2005

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FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Byrd: Ave Verum Corpus (Motets and Anthems) (Audio CD)

--William Byrd--

William Byrd was a composer of grace and power. A staunch Catholic in an increasingly Protestant country, Byrd maintained his church loyalties at high cost. However, as a recognised genius at liturgical music, he had powerful admirers and friends, perhaps including Queen Elizabeth herself. Producing musical settings to Latin texts in a new-regime English-dominated church environment took courage. However, Byrd persevered all his life to produce music that remains timeless while being firmly rooted in its time.

--Ave Verum Corpus--

The Cambridge Singers named this collection after the 4-minute motet Ave Verum Corpus by Byrd. A motet is typically a choral composition sung at services other than masses (often at Vespers, although sometimes as anthem music). Byrd, together with Tallis (from whom this ensemble derives its name), was considered a master of the Flemish style of motet.

--Motets--

There are motets here for penitence and prayer, slow and somber sounding pieces. There are motets of praise and rejoicing, which have a very different energy and feel about them. Byrd did about 150 of these Latin settings, of which this collection contains 15. With regard to English Anthems, Byrd produced several dozen of these, and these were his best known works, the Latin-based pieces being overlooked in the new English, Protestant churches. Anthems were an English innovation to replace older, more Latin-Catholic elements in the services.

--Liner Notes--

The notes include an introduction to the CD with a generous biography of Byrd, a listing of the tracks with lyrics together with a brief paragraph about the history of the piece. Where lyrics are in Latin, an English translation is provided. There is no description of the group, nor biographical information about John Rutter.

--John Rutter--

Rutter was born in London and educated at Clare College, Cambridge. This was where his career as a composer, arranger and conductor began. His early work was with groups at King's College Chapel at Cambridge as well as the Bath Choir and Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked for the BBC providing music for educational series such as 'The Archaeology of the Bible Lands', until in 1979 he began forming the Cambridge Singers, and has continued a remarkable career of performance and recording as their director ever since.

--The Cambridge Singers--

The Cambridge Singers are a mixed choir of voices, many of whom were members of choir of Rutter's college, Clare College, Cambridge. While they specialise in English and Latin liturgical pieces, they have a wide range of recordings that span from modern compositions (including a remarkable requiem by Rutter) to English folk songs of the Middle Ages. Many are former members of the choir of Clare College and other Cambridge collegiate choirs (hence the name, Cambridge Singers). In the quarter-century since the founding, the Cambridge Singers have produced an impressive body of recordings.

This is a wonderful CD, recorded at one of the Cambridge Singers' traditional recording venues, the Great Hall of University College School, London.