Byrd: Mass for Five Voices; Ave verum corpus; Lamentations & Other Works The Gesualdo Six

• William Byrd (ca. 1543 - 1623): Ave verum corpus, T. 92:
• 1Byrd: Ave verum corpus, T. 9204:28
• Afflicti pro peccatis nostris a 6, T. 51 (Cantiones Sacrae, 1591):
• 2Byrd: Afflicti pro peccatis nostris a 6, T. 51 (Cantiones Sacrae, 1591): I. Afflicti pro peccatis nostris03:27
• 3Byrd: Afflicti pro peccatis nostris a 6, T. 51 (Cantiones Sacrae, 1591): II. Ut eruas nos a malis01:41
• Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3:
• 4Byrd: Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3: I. Kyrie01:26
• 5Byrd: Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3: IIa. Gloria in excelsis Deo01:55
• 6Byrd: Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3: IIb. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei03:08
• Tristitia et anxietas a 5 (Cantiones Sacrae, 1589):
• 7Byrd: Tristitia et anxietas a 5 (Cantiones Sacrae, 1589): I. Tristitia et anxietas06:23
• 8Byrd: Tristitia et anxietas a 5 (Cantiones Sacrae, 1589): II. Sed tu Domine03:58
• Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3:
• 9Byrd: Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3: IIIa. Credo in unum Deum02:22
• 10Byrd: Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3: IIIb. Qui propter nos homines03:20
• 11Byrd: Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3: IIIc. Et in Spiritum Sanctum03:33
• Ave Maria a 5, T. 69:
• 12Byrd: Ave Maria a 5, T. 69: I. Ave Maria, gratia plena01:08
• 13Byrd: Ave Maria a 5, T. 69: II. Alleluia00:47
• Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3:
• 14Byrd: Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3: IVa. Sanctus01:09
• 15Byrd: Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3: IVb. Pleni sunt caeli01:02
• 16Byrd: Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3: IVc. Benedictus01:29
• Circumdederunt Me a 5 (Cantiones Sacrae, 1591):
• 17Byrd: Circumdederunt Me a 5 (Cantiones Sacrae, 1591)04:55
• Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3:
• 18Byrd: Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3: Va. Agnus Dei I & II01:44
• 19Byrd: Mass for 5 Voices, T. 3: Vb. Agnus Dei III01:31
• Emendemus in melius a 5, T. 4 (Cantiones Sacrae, 1575):
• 20Byrd: Emendemus in melius a 5, T. 4 (Cantiones Sacrae, 1575): I. Emendemus in melius02:19
• 21Byrd: Emendemus in melius a 5, T. 4 (Cantiones Sacrae, 1575): II. Adiuva nos Deus01:45
• De lamentatione Jeremiae prophetae, T. 171 "Lamentations":
• 22Byrd: De lamentatione Jeremiae prophetae, T. 171 "Lamentations": I. De lamentatione Jeremiae prophetae02:03
• 23Byrd: De lamentatione Jeremiae prophetae, T. 171 "Lamentations": II. Heth00:48
• 24Byrd: De lamentatione Jeremiae prophetae, T. 171 "Lamentations": III. Cogitavit Dominus01:41
• 25Byrd: De lamentatione Jeremiae prophetae, T. 171 "Lamentations": IV. Teth01:12
• 26Byrd: De lamentatione Jeremiae prophetae, T. 171 "Lamentations": V. Defixae sunt in terra portae eius01:36
• 27Byrd: De lamentatione Jeremiae prophetae, T. 171 "Lamentations": VI. Jod00:51
• 28Byrd: De lamentatione Jeremiae prophetae, T. 171 "Lamentations": VII. Sederunt in terra01:58
• 29Byrd: De lamentatione Jeremiae prophetae, T. 171 "Lamentations": VIII. Jerusalem, Jerusalem02:34
• Total Runtime01:06:13

Info for Byrd: Mass for Five Voices; Ave verum corpus; Lamentations & Other Works

In a selection of motets woven affectingly throughout the glorious five-part Mass, The Gesualdo Six perfectly captures all the power and tenderness of Byrd’s compositional voice.

William Byrd was born into a country tearing itself apart. In 1540, around the time of Byrd’s birth, King Henry VIII had just about finished his dismantling of England’s monasteries and convents, reminders of which exist in ruins around the country today. The Latin Mass was outlawed and substituted with a pared-down service, now in the vernacular. Writing music in a pre-Reformation style was a dangerous business, afforded only to those who courted royal favour.

This was perhaps not the easiest time to navigate a career as a composer working in religious circles as a recusant Catholic. Yet Byrd was clever. He chose texts with heterodox meanings, such as ‘gallows texts’—Latin psalm verses uttered by priests about to be martyred—which described overcoming opponents in order to liberate (an allegorical) Jerusalem. Such texts were later allowed by the Church under Elizabeth I, who retained a fondness for elaborate ritual.

At the heart of the collection of works on this album is Byrd’s Mass for five voices, probably the last of a set of three Masses he composed after his move from the Chapel Royal in London to Catholic hibernation in Stondon Massey, Essex. While the Mass text is ritual Latin, the music is deeply intertwined with the motets he wrote, many of which were composed with ‘notes as a garland to adorn certain holy and delightful phrases of the Christian rite’, as Byrd wrote in the preface to his second book of Gradualia (1607). Here we have selected a number of motets which complement the thematic, tonal and textural material of the Mass. ...

"Their sound is so intensely beautiful, perfectly tuned and resonanced: the way the vocal lines unfold in Byrd’s Mass for five voices, and the way they control the final flowering of the Agnus Dei, is beautiful to hear, quietly ecstatic. It’s a well-made programme—you get the movements of the Mass interwoven with Byrd’s motets and it makes an excellent four hundredth anniversary for him" (BBC Record Review)

Gesualdo Six
Owain Park, conductor

The Gesualdo Six
is an award-winning British vocal ensemble comprising some of the UK’s finest consort singers, directed by Owain Park. Praised for imaginative programming and impeccable blend, the ensemble formed in 2014 for a performance of Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responsories in Cambridge and has gone on to perform at numerous major festivals across the UK, Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Notable highlights include a concert in the distinguished Deutschlandradio Debut Series, performances at Wigmore Hall (London) and Miller Theatre (New York), and collaborations with Fretwork, the Brodsky Quartet, London Mozart Players, Luxmuralis, William Barton and Matilda Lloyd.

The ensemble integrates educational work into its activities, regularly holding workshops for young musicians and composers. The Gesualdo Six has curated two Composition Competitions, with the 2019 edition attracting entries from over 300 composers around the world. The group has commissioned new works from Joanna Ward, Kerensa Briggs, Deborah Pritchard, Joanna Marsh, Shruthi Rajasekar and Richard Barnard, and coronasolfège for 6 by Héloïse Werner.

Videos of the ensemble performing a diverse selection of works filmed in Ely Cathedral have been watched by millions online. The group released its debut recording English Motets on Hyperion in 2018 to critical acclaim. This was followed by Christmas, a festive album of seasonal favourites; Fading, a collection of Compline-themed music; Josquin’s legacy, exploring pedagogy and patronage at courts in Renaissance Italy; Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responsories for Maundy Thursday, inspired by the darkness and shadows of Holy Week; Lux aeterna, which illustrates musical responses to grief; and Byrd’s Mass for five voices.

Owain Park
was born in Bristol in 1993. As well as directing The Gesualdo Six, he maintains a busy schedule of conducting projects with ensembles including the London Mozart Players, Southbank Sinfonia, the Academy of Ancient Music and Capella Cracoviensis. Owain is Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Singers and formerly Musical Director of Cambridge Chorale.

Owain’s compositions are published by Novello and have been performed internationally by ensembles including The Tallis Scholars and Aurora Orchestra. While at Cambridge University, he studied orchestration with John Rutter, before undertaking a master’s degree in composition. He is Composer-in-Residence for the London Choral Sinfonia, and was one of BBC Radio 3’s ‘31 under 31 Young Stars 2020’. An album of his compositions recorded by The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge was nominated for the 2019 BBC Music Magazine Awards. In 2020 the Epiphoni Consort released When Love speaks, an album of his secular choral works.

Owain is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO) and was awarded the Dixon Prize for Improvisation, having been Senior Organ Scholar at Wells Cathedral and Trinity College Cambridge. He was a Tenebrae Associate Artist for two seasons, and has worked with ensembles such as The Sixteen, the Gabrieli Consort and Polyphony.

Booklet for Byrd: Mass for Five Voices; Ave verum corpus; Lamentations & Other Works