Notes and Editorial Reviews
TUDOR CITY
•
New York Polyphony
•
AVIE AV2186 (62:51
Text and Translation)
Music of
BYRD, CORNYSH, TALLIS, LAMBE, DUNSTABLE, TAVERNER, TYE, A. SMITH, ANON
This four-man vocal ensemble, based in the Big Apple, has given its second disc a title with a double meaning. Tudor City is a familiar residential landmark in midtown Manhattan, and the program consists largely of music of the Tudor era. Dunstable’s
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style="font-style:italic">Speciosa facta es
and one anonymous piece from the Worcester fragments are earlier than the Tudors, while four works by Andrew Smith (b. 1970), commissioned by the ensemble, are contemporary. Two of his pieces are juxtaposed with earlier works using the same texts,
Flos regalis
(the Worcester piece) and Magnificat by Taverner.
I cannot find
Flos regalis
on any previous recording, going all the way back to Denis Stevens’s full LP devoted to the Worcester fragments. The title appears as the cantus firmus of a Mass by Walter Frye, twice recorded (
Fanfare
16:6 and 24:2), but the Mass has been linked to a lost antiphon or a lost responsory, neither of which matches this text after the first two words. The Dunstable is familiar from the Gothic Voices (11:2, reissued in 33:6) and the Orlando Consort (24: 1), but there were three earlier versions in the LP era. Lambe’s
Stella caeli
has been recorded by Harry Christophers three times, for Meridian (9:4), Hyperion, and Collins (17:5), and by the Orlando Consort (26:4). For
Gaude Virgo Mater Christi
, William Cornysh should not be dated as “died 1523,” for the composer of this work, which survives in the Eton Choirbook, died in 1502. It has been recorded by Andrew Carwood (21:2), Peter Phillips (12:5), and Harry Christophers (9:2). Most of the Tallis selections comprise five of the nine brief tunes for Archbishop Parker’s psalter, recorded complete by Peter Phillips (10:3, since reissued) and Alistair Dixon (in the sixth volume of his complete Tallis). The longest work on the program is Taverner’s Magnificat à 4, recorded most recently by Harry Christophers (17:4).
The difference between this all-male ensemble and the other groups (only Orlando is all-male, but it has a countertenor on top) are evident. To compare only the closest rival, this group takes the Lambe work a whole tone lower than the Orlando, and the latter is noticeably livelier, though not all that much faster overall. The new version of the Dunstable is even lower than the Orlando rendition, but here this group moves right along. So if you should have a sizable collection of these pieces, the new disc will demonstrate equally fine interpretations with a darker tone of voice. This is an ensemble to reckon with, and its versions are worthy of close comparison.
FANFARE: J. F. Weber
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Works on This Recording
1.
Ave verum corpus by William Byrd
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Renaissance
Written: by 1605; England
Length: 4 Minutes 17 Secs.
2.
Gaude Virgo Mater Christi for 4 voices by William Cornysh
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Renaissance
Length: 5 Minutes 7 Secs.
3.
Flos Regalis, for vocal ensemble by Andrew Smith
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Contemporary
Length: 2 Minutes 5 Secs.
4.
Flos Regalis by Worcester Frag Anonymous
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Length: 4 Minutes 7 Secs.
5.
Nine Tunes from Archbishop Parker's Psalter: 4. O Come in One to Praise the Lord by Thomas Tallis
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Renaissance
Written: circa 1567
Length: 1 Minutes 0 Secs.
6.
Nine Tunes from Archbishop Parker's Psalter: 6. Expend, O Lord, My Plaint of Word by Thomas Tallis
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Renaissance
Written: circa 1567
Length: 1 Minutes 6 Secs.
7.
Surrexit Christus, for vocal ensemble by Andrew Smith
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Contemporary
Length: 3 Minutes 24 Secs.
8.
Stella Caeli for 4 voices by Walter Lambe
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Renaissance
Length: 6 Minutes 49 Secs.
9.
Speciosa facta es, antiphon for 3 voices, MB 50 (probably by Binchois) by John Dunstable
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Medieval
Written: circa 1410-1453; England
Length: 1 Minutes 57 Secs.
10.
Audivi vocem by Thomas Tallis
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
Length: 4 Minutes 12 Secs.
11.
Nine Tunes from Archbishop Parker's Psalter: 3. Why Fum'th in Fight by Thomas Tallis
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Renaissance
Written: circa 1567
Length: 1 Minutes 15 Secs.
12.
To Mock Your Reign, for vocal ensemble by Andrew Smith
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Contemporary
Length: 4 Minutes 49 Secs.
13.
Nine Tunes from Archbishop Parker's Psalter: 1. Man Blest No Doubt by Thomas Tallis
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Renaissance
Written: circa 1567
Length: 1 Minutes 12 Secs.
14.
Nine Tunes from Archbishop Parker's Psalter: 8. God Grant with Grace by Thomas Tallis
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Renaissance
Written: circa 1567
Length: 1 Minutes 19 Secs.
15.
Magnificat, for 4 voices (sexti toni) by John Taverner
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Renaissance
Written: England
Length: 10 Minutes 52 Secs.
16.
Magnificat à 4, for vocal ensemble by Andrew Smith
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Contemporary
Length: 3 Minutes 19 Secs.
17.
In pace in idipsum by Christopher Tye
Performer:
New York Polyphony ()
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Polyphony
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
Length: 5 Minutes 51 Secs.
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