Notes and Editorial Reviews
Lamentation verses nourished the imagination of English composers throughout the 16th and 17th century, evoking intense musical responses. This disc explores settings by composers known (Tallis, Byrd) and unknown, and includes premiere recordings of Lamentations by Alfonso Ferrabosco the Younger and John Mundy.
The contrasts of style, structure and dramatic emphasis between these different settings highlight the peculiarities of each composer and of his generation. Which is more haunting: the earlier practice of using strict imitation to build magisterially, or the later practice of coupling loose counterpoint with homophony for momentary effects?
The vocalists on this recording decide for us. Here the prize is
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carried by the later generation, particularly by John Mundy, whose music inspires the performers’ most profound reading. His composition – indebted somewhat to the practices of his father, William – combines rhapsodic elaboration and homophony to create a unique, if slightly weird, fusion of archaic Tudor traditions and contemporary musical rhetoric.
Out of this, the vocalists create a driving, exuberant sound world in which any sense of the words set by the music appear to be abandoned and affect is gorgeously illuminated through dynamic swells, shifting pulses and vocal colours.
Elsewhere, however, the commitment of the lay clerks of Windsor Castle slackens, notably in their somewhat formulaic interpretation of Byrd’s Lamentations. The liveliness of the acoustic occasionally slips from the engineers’ control, creating imbalances between the outer voices. That said, this disc’s splendid reconstruction of unexplored repertory fully justifies its price.
-- Berta Joncus, BBC Music Magazine
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Works on This Recording
1.
Lamentations of Jeremiah: First Lectio at Matins, Maundy Thursday: by Thomas Tallis
Conductor:
Timothy Byram-Wigfield
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Windsor Castle Lay Clerks of St. George's Chapel
Venue: Windsor Castle, England
Length: 7 Minutes 46 Secs.
2.
Lamentations, for chorus by Alfonso Ferrabosco
Conductor:
Timothy Byram-Wigfield
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Windsor Castle Lay Clerks of St. George's Chapel
Venue: Windsor Castle, England
Length: 9 Minutes 17 Secs.
3.
De Lamentationes Hieremiae by William Byrd
Conductor:
Timothy Byram-Wigfield
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Windsor Castle Lay Clerks of St. George's Chapel
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Windsor Castle, England
Length: 12 Minutes 21 Secs.
4.
The Lamentations by Osbert Parsley
Conductor:
Timothy Byram-Wigfield
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Windsor Castle Lay Clerks of St. George's Chapel
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Windsor Castle, England
Length: 7 Minutes 48 Secs.
5.
De Lamentatione Jeremiae, for chorus by John Mundy
Conductor:
Timothy Byram-Wigfield
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Windsor Castle Lay Clerks of St. George's Chapel
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Windsor Castle, England
Length: 11 Minutes 9 Secs.
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