CORO CORO James MacMillan: Miserere An Immortal Legacy

“...what a superb The complete The Sixteen are, and repertoire from their especial affinity one of The with this music Sixteen’s best heightens the impact loved concert EDMUND of these powerful programmes on performances.” CD. cor16096 gramophone cor16111 RUBBRA

Spirit, Strength & Sorrow Poetry in Music Tenebrae Nocturns Op. 72

“Three new responses “Four tracks and Missa Cantuariensis Op. 59 to the [Stabat Mater] less than 20 text... are sung here minutes into Three Op. 76 with faultless clarity this disc it is by The Sixteen.” clear that this Five Motets Op. 37 the observer is something **** really special.” cor16127 cor16134 gramophone The Sixteen To find out more about The Sixteen, concert tours, and to buy CDs visit HARRY CHRISTOPHERS www.thesixteen.com cor16144 ave for a couple of mainstays of the cathedral by the way he spaces the chords. One need only look at Amicus meus from the Srepertoire (the carol Dormi Jesu and the Maundy Thursday Tenebrae – all parts to be sung softly with the tenor line to Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in A flat), Edmund the fore, but very low in the register, resulting in an extraordinarily effective Rubbra’s choral music is shamefully little-known sonority. His subtle use of dynamics in general is quite fascinating and highly and seldom performed. His music is often rewarding. It is in these settings of the Tenebrae Nocturns that we can feel harmonically challenging and vocally taxing yet, Rubbra’s deep Catholic faith. They are intensely personal, highly charged with Photograph: Marco Borggreve Marco Photograph: ultimately, so rewarding both for the performer emotion which is at times mystical and at others seriously dramatic. and listener. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Adrian Yardley for not only I first encountered Rubbra’s music as a chorister making this recording possible, but also for giving me wonderful insights into at Canterbury Cathedral, hence the inclusion his father’s music and indeed introducing me to so much of it. on this recording of his Missa Cantuariensis – fabulously sonorous double choir writing, but my distinct memory was of the humour of the Gloria. I recall us all turning the pages over at great speed; if we hadn’t, we would have missed the next bar or entry. Not only is Rubbra’s metronome marking sprightly to say the least (  = 138 and rising to 152), he also writes it in the longest note values possible (breves) and, since it’s for double choir, each page flies past within seconds – after all, it is Allegro con brio!

It is Rubbra’s love of and his clever working of melody that makes him stand out from many of his contemporaries but, for me, the single attribute that makes his music so special is his sense of tonality. Enharmonic shifts are in abundance and his harmonic sense is always interesting but made very special

2 3 EDMUND RUBBRA (1901-1986)

TENEBRAE – First Nocturn Op. 72 TENEBRAE – Third Nocturn Op. 72 1 In monte Oliveti 2.52 bq Eram quasi agnus innocens 3.25 2 Tristis est anima mea 3.39 br Una hora non potuistis 3.03 3 Ecce vidimus eum 4.57 bs Seniores populi 2.37

THREE MOTETS Op. 76 MISSA CANTUARIENSIS Op. 59 4 Let us now praise famous men 2.10 bt Kyrie 3.58 5 There is a spirit 5.34 bu Responses 1.55 6 Except the Lord build the house 1.43 cl Credo 7.09 cm Sanctus 1.32 TENEBRAE – Second Nocturn Op. 72 cn Benedictus 1.37 7 Amicus meus 2.36 co Agnus Dei 2.05 8 Judas mercator pessimus 2.10 cp Gloria in excelsis 3.10 9 Unus ex discipulis 3.17

FIVE MOTETS Op. 37 Total playing time 73.11 bl Eternitie 2.44 bm Vain wits and eyes 1.24 bn A to God the Father 3.48 bo The Search 2.02 bp A Song 3.43 Edmund Rubbra photograph: Jane Bown parents needed the boy’s spare time pupil. In less than two years he won to supplement the ‘meagre’ family a scholarship to study with Holst EDMUND RUBBRA income, first by working as an errand at University College, Reading, and, boy, and later by leaving school at 14, shortly after, another to the Royal first to join the office of a boot and College of Music, securing his future e was a pupil of Holst and Boult, again, who put his finger on this shoe manufacturers and then working as a professional musician. HVaughan Williams, a close friend defining aspect of Rubbra’s character, as a clerk for a local railway company. of Finzi, his music was performed at describing a composer ‘who had never It was dogged determination that Composition was just a small part the coronation of Elizabeth II, and made any effort to popularise anything kept Rubbra at his music through his of Rubbra’s early work, fitted in he was hailed by as a he has done’. teens. The composer recalls that it was alongside his roles as a pianist both composer of ‘masterpieces’, yet his only ‘by getting up very early in the for theatre and ballet, and as a music name – Edmund Rubbra – is today all Rubbra’s is a story of success against morning and working in the evening journalist and critic. It was a model but unknown. Why? the odds, but his is a quiet victory, I managed somehow to keep up with of part-time composing that would one that rejects assimilation into the my studies in , counterpoint, continue throughout his life. A It is an almost impossible question, ‘working-class hero’ narrative his life so and organ’. promising recital career developed partly because there are too many clearly suggests. Born in Northampton through the 1930s, but was cut short answers and partly because there are in 1901 in a ‘small, box-like, red-brick But continue he did and, influenced by by the war. In 1941 Rubbra was none at all. Though a talented and house’, Rubbra was the child of keen the unusually fertile amateur musical called up, but soon his duties took a idiosyncratic musician, Rubbra (1901- amateur musicians – a mother who scene in Northampton (the same town musical turn. Ordered to form a music 86) was, in many ways, the antithesis of often performed solos with the local that also produced Malcolm Arnold group to entertain the troops, he duly the popular idea of a classical composer: church choir, and a father who, though and ), he developed did, and The Army Classical Music working class, modest to a fault, a man he couldn’t read music, picked out a fascination with the music of Group was born, performing across who steadfastly – though through no popular tunes by ear at the piano. , and at the age of just 17 the UK and internationally, before overt calculation or self-positioning organised a concert of his music. The evolving post-war to become the – refused to play the public game, as But while they encouraged the composer himself heard of the event, Rubbra-Gruenberg-Pleeth Trio, only many of his contemporaries did. It was young Rubbra’s studies in music, his and afterwards took Rubbra on as a disbanding in the 1950s. From 1947

6 7 onwards Rubbra held various teaching Paul Klee’s notion of drawing as ‘taking one from personal preoccupation in such as the Missa Cantuariensis, posts at Oxford University (1947-68) a line for a walk’ finds its musical order to know something of the Divine where spiritual ecstasy is tempered and the Guildhall School of Music echo in Rubbra’s music. Even his forces that shape all existence.’ by a certain austerity, these settings and Drama (1962-74). Teaching was a symphonies unfold with an organic find a sensuousness, a voluptuary passion for him, and continued long spontaneity that is as unexpected as it Of the choral works recorded here, pleasure, in a heady collision of control after his supposed retirement. is appealing. It is only on subsequent one (the Missa Cantuariensis) sets the and excess. In A Hymn to God the listens that the deeper contrapuntal Anglican liturgy, one the Catholic (Nine Father for example, we see almost But Rubbra’s music is very much a and developmental processes at work Tenebrae Motets), while the two groups total choral homophony and strophic product of an inner life, not a public become evident, lightly worn as they of motets take a broader approach to repetition – musical restrictions and one. Despite significant understanding are by pieces whose lyricism is only spirituality, drawing respectively on limitations – melt away into the most of serial processes, clearly evident in their outer garment. the English metaphysical poets (Five astonishing final cadence, complicated his music criticism, Rubbra shunned Motets) and a selection of psalms, in its contradictory harmonic urges, a avant-garde techniques in his own Though Rubbra is best-known Biblical passages and sacred verse human voice speaking vividly. music, favouring a style often criticised for his orchestral works, leaving (Three Motets). It’s music that charts as anachronistic or conservative, but 11 symphonies completed at his the shifting and developing of an Nowhere is Rubbra’s handling of text which speaks instead perhaps to a death, choral music was a constant intensely personal faith over almost better displayed than in the opening philosophy of composition driven as throughout his career, and a genre of three decades. of Eternitie, the first of the cycle. much by instinct, by musical theme, particular importance for a composer Here we find the poet’s failing mortal as by pre-determined structures. of strong spiritual conviction, who body (‘O yeares! and Age!’) earth- Rubbra himself explained it best: ‘I found himself drawn to the Eastern Five Motets (1934) is Rubbra’s earliest bound in the lower voices of basses and believe music is in the subconscious mysticism that so fascinated both major choral work, and his first for altos. But as the body dies and the soul waiting for us to discover it; that the Holst and Cyril Scott, and who would unaccompanied voices. It is the work passes away into ‘infinitie’ the music composer’s task is not the creation later convert to Catholicism in 1947. that marks a new assurance in the takes flight through sopranos and of something new, but actually the ‘I’m old-fashioned enough to believe,’ composer’s handling of his forces, a tenors, floating up into the uncertain discovery of something that already Rubbra himself explained, ‘that the new sensitivity to both text and texture. territories of the musical aether. It’s exists.’ highest function of music is to release Unlike the later liturgical compositions exquisitely simple, but strikingly

8 9 effective, especially when allied to acoustic of Canterbury Cathedral, and strong sense of Gregorian chant. This solo soprano, with her own separate an imitative texture that pays explicit it is a setting that places aural drama to movement is the heart of the Mass, text) and the collective, the choir who homage to Renaissance polyphony – the fore. The composer demands that set apart by the sudden presence chant The Beatitudes beneath her in a combination of scholarly order and his two be ‘spatially separate’ of the organ. It is a startling, almost There is a spirit. Counterpoint makes expressive spontaneity that characterises to heighten their interplay – the incongruous gesture, but it’s also one a welcome return in the final motet, so much of Rubbra’s writing. tension between the competing and that underlines the difference between Except the Lord build the house, in overlapping waves of sound (Kyrie), the collective act of faith represented another sophisticated nod to Rubbra’s But in case all this seems too slight, and ultimately their resolution into by the Credo and the personal, singular Tudor forebears – a clever take on an too painterly, Rubbra juxtaposes it a single unified force (Gloria). The prayers of the rest of the Mass. inverted canon. with Vain wits and eyes – a piece of canonic Agnus is another example of contrapuntal mastery so assured that, Rubbra’s contrapuntal skill, a miracle Written in 1952 to mark the 250th Rubbra’s conversion to Catholicism in in barely more than a minute of music, of carefully crafted textures designed anniversary of the Friends’ School 1947 would change more than just his it conjures not only the chattering (even in the Canterbury acoustic) to at Saffron Walden, the Three Motets religion, as the nine Tenebrae Motets vanity of the everyday, but does so create a texture translucent enough are a triptych of compact miniatures. so potently demonstrate. These dark, in two separate four-voice canons to let the listener hear the detail of its Compared to the expansive, festal troubled texts, taken from the service sustained across the two choirs. It’s many layers. Missa Cantuariensis they seem almost of Matins on Maundy Thursday, carry skill all the more exhilarating for being terse. But, once again, the austerity huge emotional weight – representing so lightly worn. Unity is achieved though the Mass by of word-setting that is largely the nadir not just of Holy Week but rather unusual means. Each movement syllabic, and the almost recitative- the Church year. It’s this extremity, this Both the double-choir texture of begins on the note G, before heading like simplicity of Let us now praise desperate searching after spiritual light Vain wits and the Tudor polyphony off in its own direction. It is, as the famous men, is balanced by the that draws from Rubbra some of his of Eternitie find a more substantial composer explained, ‘based on G, but is interest of fretful that most powerful music – works whose echo some ten years later in the not in G’. More potent a unifying force, refuse to settle (just look at the harmonic daring, equal to anything by Missa Cantuariensis (1945). This perhaps, are the modal harmonies that sideways glances and shifts of There is Poulenc or Frank Martin, gives the lie largest of Rubbra’s five Mass settings dominate throughout – an anticipation, a spirit) and the textural interest of the to any who would call him a musical was commissioned for the spacious and later an echo of the Credo, with its relationship between the individual (a reactionary.

10 11 With ten years dividing the motets the illusory reassurance of the suddenly of the First Nocturn (1951) from consonant Versicle (‘Si natus…’), in Texts and Translations the Second and Third (1961), the which the music briefly muses that works were not conceived as a it might have been better had Judas coherent liturgical set, but, gathered never been born. together by the composer under a TENEBRAE – First Nocturn Op. 72, Nos. 1-3 single opus number, there is some Dominating the Third Nocturn is the 1 suggestion that he did view them as a first movement Eram quasi agnus 1. In monte Oliveti complete triptych. innocens, in which Rubbra uses the Soloists: Kirsty Hopkins soprano, Kim Porter alto, Mark Dobell tenor simplest of musical tools – a scalic Responsorium: Yet each trio of motets also represents phrase, four-part texture – to capture In monte Oliveti oravit ad Patrem: a dramatic arc in itself, with the central with painful specificity the tensions of Pater si fieri potest transeat a me calix iste. movement offering an intimacy, a a text that sets the ‘innocent lamb’ of Spiritus quidem promptus est caro autem infirma. fragility both of text and music, not Christ (represented in the sudden stab Versus: seen in the framing panels. In Tristis of a semitone clash at ‘agnus’) against Vigilate et orate ut non intretis in tentationem. est anima mea, for example, a solo enemies whose musical words are so Spiritus quidem promptus est caro autem infirma. voice, rendered in deceitful chromatic seductive (‘Venite’) that even we who convulsions, abandons Christ in the know their horror cannot resist their Responsory: garden (‘Vos fugam’), a wonderfully seeming sweetness. As a gesture it is He prayed to his Father on Mount Olivet: vivid portrait of human weakness. In pure Rubbra: succinct, restrained, but Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. the Second Nocturn’s Judas mercator dramatically telling, deploying the The Spirit indeed is ready but the flesh is weak. pessimus the horror of betrayal is sparest of musical tools to powerful captured in insistent augmented spiritual ends. Verse: Watch and pray, that ye may not enter into temptation. fourths, awkward and increasingly The Spirit indeed is ready but the flesh is weak. hysterical as they rise higher in the © Alexandra Coghlan voices. Against this discomfort is set 2016

12 13 2 2. Tristis est anima mea 3 3. Ecce vidimus eum Soloist: Kirsty Hopkins soprano Responsorium: Responsorium: Ecce vidimus eum non habentem speciem, neque decorum: Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem: aspectus eius in eo non est: sustinete hic, et vigilate mecum: hic peccata nostra portavit, et pro nobis dolet: nunc videbitis turbam, quae circumdabit me. ipse autem vulneratus est, propter iniquitates nostras, Vos fugam capietis, et ego vadam immolari pro vobis. cuius livore sanati sumus. Versus: Versus: Ecce appropinquat hora, et Filius hominis tradetur in manus peccatorum. Vere languores nostros ipse tulit et dolores nostros ipse portavit. Vos fugam capietis, et ego vadam immolari pro vobis. Cuius livore sanati sumus.

Responsory: Responsory: My soul is sorrowful to death: Behold we have seen him disfigured and without beauty: stay here and watch with me: his aspect is gone from him: now ye shall see a multitude that will surround me. he has borne our sins and suffered for us: Ye shall run away, and I will go to be sacrificed for you. and he was wounded for our iniquities, and by his stripes we are healed. Verse: Behold the time draws near, and the Son of Man shall be delivered into the Verse: hands of sinners. He has truly borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows. Ye shall run away, and I will go to be sacrificed for you. And by his stripes we are healed.

14 15 THREE MOTETS Op. 76, Nos. 1-3 5 2. There is a spirit Soloist: Julie Cooper soprano 4 1. Let us now praise famous men Solo soprano Soloist: Daniel Collins alto There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, Let us now praise famous men, nor to revenge any wrong, and our fathers that begat us. but delights to endure all things, Such as did bear rule in their kingdoms, in hope to enjoy its own in the end. men renowned for their power. Its hope is to outlive all wrath and contention Leaders of the people and to weary out all exaltation and cruelty. by their counsels and by their knowledge. It sees to the end of all temptations. Such as found out musical tunes, If it be betrayed it bears it, and recited verses in writing. for its ground and spring is the mercies and forgiveness of God. All these were honoured in their generations, and were the glory of their times. Its crown is meekness, And some there be which have no memorial; its life is everlasting love unfeigned; who are perished as though they had never been. it takes its kingdom with entreaty and not with contention Their bodies are buried in peace; and keeps it by lowliness of mind. but their name liveth for evermore. In God alone it can rejoice. Ecclesiasticus 44 Praise the Lord, O my soul. Main choir Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

16 17 Blessed are the meek: 6 3. Except the Lord build the house for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: Except the Lord build the house, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, for they shall be filled. they labour in vain that build it; but unto Thy name give glory. except the Lord keep the city, We will bless the Lord Blessed are the merciful: the watchman waketh but in vain. from this time forth and for evermore. for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: Psalms 127 & 115 for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. TENEBRAE – Second Nocturn Op. 72, Nos. 4-6 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 7 4. Amicus meus Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you and persecute you Responsorium: and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Amicus meus osculi me tradidit signo. Quem osculatus fuero, ipse est, tenete eum: Thou wast with me when I fled from the face of mine enemies: hoc malum fecit signum, qui per osculum adimplevit homicidium. then didst Thou warn me in the night: Infelix praetermisit pretium sanguinis, et in fine laqueo se suspendit. Thou carriedst me in Thy power into the hiding place Thou hadst prepared for me; there Thou coverdst me with Thy hand, Versus: Bonum erat ei, si natus non fuisset homo ille. that in time Thou mightst bring me forth a rock before all the world. Infelix praetermisit pretium sanguinis, et in fine laqueo se suspendit. When I was weak Thou stayedst me with Thy hand, that in Thy time Thou mightst present me to the world in Thy strength, in which I stand and cannot be moved. Responsory: My friend betrayed me with a kiss. Adapted by the composer from James Nayler (Early Quaker writer, 1616-60) Whom I shall kiss, that is he: hold him fast. and Matthew 5: 3-11 That was the wicked token which he gave, who by a kiss accomplished murder. Unhappy man, he relinquished the price of blood, and in the end hanged himself.

18 19 Verse: 9 6. Unus ex discipulis It had been good for that man if he had never been born. Unhappy man, he relinquished the price of blood, and in the end hanged himself. Responsorium: Unus ex discipulis meis tradet me hodie: vae illi per quem tradar ego. Melius illi erat si natus non fuisset. 8 5. Judas mercator pessimus Versus: Soloists: Kirsty Hopkins soprano, Kim Porter alto, Mark Dobell tenor, Ben Davies bass Qui intingit mecum manum in paropside, hic me traditurus est in manus peccatorum. Responsorium: Melius illi erat si natus non fuisset. Judas mercator pessimus, osculo petiit Dominum: ille, ut agnus innocens, Responsory: non negavit Judae osculum. One of my disciples will betray me today: Denariorum numero woe to him by whom I am betrayed. Christum Judaeis tradidit. Versus: It were better for him had he never been born. Melius illi erat si natus non fuisset. Verse: He that dips his hand with me in the dish, Responsory: is he who will give me up into the hands of sinners. Judas, the vile merchant, It were better for him had he never been born. required a kiss from the Lord: who, like an innocent lamb, did not deny the kiss to Judas. For a large amount of denarii, he betrayed Christ to the Jews. Verse: It were better for him had he never been born.

20 21 FIVE MOTETS Op. 37, Nos. 1-5 bn 3. A Hymn to God the Father bl Wilt thou forgive that sinne where I begunne, 1. Eternitie Which is my sinne, though it were done before? O yeares! and Age! Farewell: And these mine eyes shall see Wilt thou forgive those sinnes, through which I runne, Behold I go, All times, how they And do run still: though still I do deplore? Where I do know Are lost in the sea When thou hast done, thou hast not done, Infinitie to dwell. (Farewell.) Of vast Eternitie. (O yeares! and Age! Farewell.) For, I have more. Will thou forgive that sinne by which I’have wonne Where never Moone shall sway Others to sinne? And made my sinne their doore? The Starres; but she, Wilt thou forgive that sinne which I did shunne And Night, shall be A yeare or two, but wallowed in a score? Drown’d in one endlesse Day. (Farewell.) When thou hast done, thou hast not done, For, I have more. Robert Herrick (1591-1674) I have a sinne of feare, that when I have spunne My last thred, I shall perish on the shore: bm Sweare by thyself that at my death thy sonne 2. Vain wits and eyes Shall shine as he shines now and heretofore; Vain wits and eyes Tears cleanse and supple without fail, And having done that, thou hast done, Leave, and be wise: And fire will purge your callous veyl, I feare no more. Abuse not, shun not holy fire, Then comes the light which when you spy, John Donne (1572-1631) But with true tears wash off your mire. And see your nakedness thereby. Tears and these flames will soon grow kinde, Praise him who dealt his gifts so free And mix an eye-salve for the blinde. In tears to you, in fire to me. Henry Vaughan (1621-95)

22 23 bo 4. The Search bp 5. A Song Leave, leave, thy gadding thoughts; Lord, when the sense of thy sweet grace Who pores Sends up my soul to seek thy face, and spies Thy blessed eyes breed such desire, Still out of doors, I dy in love’s delicious Fire. descries O love, I am thy sacrifice. Within them nought. Be still triumphant, blessed eyes. Still shine on me, fair suns! that I The skinne, and shell of things Still may behold, though still I dy. Though faire, are not Though still I dy, I live again; Thy wish, nor pray’r, Still longing so to be still slain, but got So gainfull is such losse of breath. By meer Despair I dy even in desire of death. of wings. Still live in me this loving strife Of living Death and dying Life. To rack old Elements, For while thou sweetly slayest me or Dust Dead to my selfe, I live in Thee. and say Sure here he must Richard Crashaw (1613-49) needs stay, Is not the way, nor just. Search well another world; Who studies this, Travels in clouds, Seeks manna where none is. Henry Vaughan

24 25 TENEBRAE – Third Nocturn Op. 72, Nos. 7-9 br 8. Una hora non potuistis bq Responsorium: 7. Eram quasi agnus innocens Una hora non potuistis vigilare mecum, Responsorium: qui exhortabamini mori pro me? Eram quasi agnus innocens; Vel Judam non videtis quomodo non dormit, ductus sum ad immolandum, et nesciebam: sed festinat tradere me Judaeis? consilium fecerunt inimici mei adversum me, dicentes: Versus: Venite, mittamus lignum in panem eius, Quid dormitis? Surgite et orate, et eradamus eum de terra viventium. ne intretis in tentationem. Versus: Vel Judam non videtis quomodo non dormit, Omnes inimici mei adversum me cogitabant mala mihi; sed festinat tradere me Judaeis? verbum iniquum mandaverunt adversum me dicentes: Venite, mittamus lignum in panem eius, Responsory: et eradamus eum de terra viventium. Could ye not watch one hour with me, ye that were ready to die for me? Responsory: Or see ye not Judas, how he sleepeth not, Behold, I was like an innocent lamb; how he maketh haste to betray me to the Jews? I was led to the slaughter, and I knew it not: Verse: My enemies have conspired together against me, saying: Why sleep ye? Arise and pray, Come, let us put poison into his bread, lest ye enter into temptation. and let us cut him off out of the land of the living. Or see ye not Judas, how he sleepeth not, Verse: how he maketh haste to betray me to the Jews? All my enemies have thought evil things about me; They have spoken evil words against me, saying: Come, let us put poison into his bread, and let us cut him off out of the land of the living.

26 27 bs 9. Seniores populi MISSA CANTUARIENSIS Op. 59 Responsorium: bt Seniores populi consilium fecerunt, Kyrie ut Jesum dolo tenerunt, et occiderent: Lord, have mercy upon us. cum gladiis et fustibus exierunt tamquam ad latronem. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. Versus: Collegerunt pontifices et pharisaei concilium, ut Jesum dolo tenerent, et occiderent: cum gladiis et fustibus exierunt tamquam ad latronem. bu Responses * Lord, have mercy upon us, Responsory: and incline our hearts to keep this law. The elders of the people discussed, Lord, have mercy upon us, that they might by craft apprehend Jesus and kill him: and write all these Thy laws in our hearts, they came out with swords and clubs as against a robber. we beseech Thee. Verse: * First recording. In the traditional Anglican liturgy Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council, each response follows a reading of the Ten Commandments, that they might by craft apprehend Jesus and kill him: the first response being repeated 9 times. they came out with swords and clubs as against a robber. cl Credo Soloists: Jeremy Budd tenor, Eamonn Dougan bass I believe in one God, The Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible:

28 29 and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, cm Sanctus begotten of His Father before all worlds. God from God, light from light, Holy, Holy, Holy, very God of very God: Lord God of Hosts. begotten not made, Heav’n and earth are full of Thy glory. being of one substance with the Father, Glory be to Thee, O Lord most high. by whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven. cn And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. Benedictus And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. He suffered and was buried, Hosanna in the highest. and the third day He rose again according to the scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father, co and He shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead: Agnus Dei whose kingdom shall have no end. O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world: And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, have mercy upon us. who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world: who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, have mercy upon us. who spake by the Prophets. O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world: And I believe one catholic and apostolic church. grant us Thy peace. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

30 31 cp Gloria in excelsis Harry Christophers is known internationally as founder and conductor of The Sixteen as well as being a regular guest Glory be to God on high, conductor for many of the major symphony orchestras and opera And in earth peace, good will towards men. companies worldwide. He has directed The Sixteen choir and We praise Thee. We bless Thee. orchestra throughout Europe, America and Asia-Pacific, gaining a We worship Thee. We glorify Thee. distinguished reputation for his work in Renaissance, Baroque and We give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory. 20th- and 21st-century music. In 2000 he instituted The Choral Pilgrimage, a national tour of English cathedrals from York to Borggreve Marco Photograph: O Lord God, heavenly King, Canterbury in music from the pre-Reformation, as The Sixteen’s God the Father almighty. contribution to the millennium celebrations. The Pilgrimage in O Lord God, only-begotten Son, Jesu Christ; the UK is now central to The Sixteen’s annual artistic programme. Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sins of the world, Since 2008 Harry Christophers has been Artistic Director of Boston’s Handel and Haydn have mercy on us. Society; he is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Granada Symphony Orchestra. Thou that takest away the sins of the world, As well as enjoying a partnership with the BBC Philharmonic, with whom he won a receive our prayer. Diapason d’Or, he is a regular guest conductor with the Academy of St Martin in the Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, Fields. With The Sixteen he is an Associate Artist at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester have mercy on us. and features in the highly successful BBC television series Sacred Music, presented by Simon Russell Beale. For Thou only art holy, Thou only art the Lord, Harry has conducted numerous productions for Lisbon Opera and English National Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, Opera as well as conducting the UK premiere of Messager’s opera Fortunio for Grange Park art most high in the glory of the Father. Opera. He is a regular conductor at Buxton Opera where he initiated a very successful Amen. cycle of Handel’s operas and oratorios including Semele, Samson, Saul and Jephtha. The English Rites of 1662 and 1928 Harry Christophers is an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, as well as the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and has been awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music by the University of Leicester. He was awarded a CBE in the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

32 33 After three decades of worldwide performance and recording, The Sixteen is recognised as one of the world’s greatest ensembles. Its special The Sixteen reputation for performing early English polyphony, soprano alto tenor bass masterpieces of the Renaissance, Baroque and Julie Cooper Ian Aitkenhead Simon Berridge Alex Ashworth* early Classical periods, and a diversity of 20th- and 21st-century music, all stems from Grace Davidson* David Clegg* Jeremy Budd James Birchall the passions of conductor and founder, Harry Christophers. Sally Dunkley Daniel Collins Joshua Cooter * Ben Davies The Sixteen tours internationally giving regular performances at the major concert halls Katy Hill Edward McMullan Mark Dobell Eamonn Dougan and festivals. At home in the UK, The Sixteen are ‘The Voices of Classic FM’ as well as Kirsty Hopkins Kim Porter George Pooley Tim Jones Associate Artists of The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Artistic Associate of Kings Place Alexandra Kidgell Stuart Young* and hold a 2015-2016 Artist Residency at Wigmore Hall. The group also promotes The Charlotte Mobbs* Choral Pilgrimage, an annual tour of the UK’s finest cathedrals. Emilia Morton organ Ruth Provost* *tracks 5 and bl only Robert Quinney The Sixteen’s period-instrument orchestra has taken part in acclaimed semi-staged performances of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen in Tel Aviv and London, a fully staged production of Purcell’s King Arthur in Lisbon’s Belém Centre, and new productions of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse at Lisbon Opera House and The Coronation of Poppea Recording Producer: Mark Brown at English National Opera. Recording Engineer: Mike Hatch (Floating Earth) Recorded at: Church of St Alban the Martyr, Holborn, London, 5-7 January 2016 Over 150 recordings reflect The Sixteen’s quality in a range of work spanning the Cover image: Good Friday 1990 (oil on canvas), Maggi Hambling (b.1945) music of 500 years. In 2009 the group won the coveted Classic FM Gramophone Artist Private Collection / Bridgeman Images of the Year Award and the Baroque Vocal Award for Handel’s Coronation Anthems. Design: Andrew Giles: [email protected]

The Sixteen also features in the highly successful BBC television series, Sacred Music, 2016 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. the voi ces of presented by Simon Russell Beale. © 2016 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. Made in Great Britain In 2011, with the support of the Genesis Foundation, the group launched a new For further information about recordings on CORO or live performances and tours by training programme for young singers, called Genesis Sixteen. Aimed at 18- to 23-year- The Sixteen, call: +44 (0) 20 7936 3420 or email: [email protected] olds, this is the UK’s first fully funded choral programme for young singers designed specifically to bridge the gap from student to professional practitioner. Also available as a studio master quality download at 34 www.thesixteendigital.com