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Home , John Taverner, Robert White (composer)

Stile Antico: Toward the Dawn

St Martin-in-the-Fields Trafalgar Square London Available to watch as many times as you like WC2N 4JJ from 7.30pm, Thursday 4 March 2021, 020 7766 1100 and available for 30 days. www.smitf.org PROGRAMME

Draw on, sweet night – John Wilbye (1574-1638)

Christe qui lux es IV – (c.1538-1574)

Come, sable night – John Ward (1571-1638)

Vigilate – (c.1539/40-1623)

Toutes le nuitz – (1530/32-1594)

Laboravi in gemitu meo – (1561-1596) / (c.1557-1602)

Gentle sleep – Nico Muhly (b.1981)

O nata lux – (c.1505-1585)

Ecco mormorar l’onde – (1567-1643)

Ave Dei Patris filia – (c1490-1545) Stile Antico (c. Marco Borggreve) PROGRAMME NOTES by Sarah Maxted

In this programme, Stile Antico chart a course through the music of night-time, from dusk to dawn. For poets and musicians of the sixteenth century, the themes of darkness, dreams and sleep were a rich source of inspiration. The cover of darkness was an invitation to secrecy – illicit longings, clandestine religion, political stirrings, unspeakable grief – whilst sleep brought the sweetness of repose and dreaming, but also profound danger. Sleeping bodies were vulnerable to attack and disease, just as sleeping souls were susceptible to sin and supernatural threats. The hours of darkness were a time when our mortal souls were most in need of divine protection, awaiting the illuminating and redeeming rise of the morning sun.

John Wilbye (1574-1638) was born in the Norfolk market town of Diss, son of an amateur lutenist, and worked as a household musician to prominent noble families in Norfolk and Suffolk. Draw on, sweet night is from the second set of Wilbye’s , published in 1609 with the support of his patrons. The text by an unidentified poet invites the solace of night, wherein darkness is the perfect companion for contemplating the day’s woes and finding some relief. It is perhaps more poetically sophisticated than many similar English texts of the time, demonstrating Wilbye’s discerning eye for literary quality and emotionally affecting poetry.

Christe qui lux es is a hymn for compline, the final service of prayers at the end of the Christian day. This is the fourth of four settings of the same text by Robert White (c.1538- 1574), each of which alternates traditional plainchant with polyphonic verse. It is a tranquil prayer, beseeching the light of Christ to protect us from the perils of night and allow us peaceful sleep. White was a London-born composer, who studied at Trinity College, Cambridge before holding positions at Ely and Chester Cathedrals. Highly esteemed by his contemporaries, he became master of the choristers at , but held the role for only a few years until his death during the city’s plague outbreak of 1574.

Come, sable night is from a set of madrigals by John Ward (1571-1638) published in 1613. Ward was born in Canterbury and was patronised by the family of Sir Henry Fanshawe. Much like the Wilbye madrigal which opened tonight's programme, Come sable night welcomes the darkness of night for its suitability for grief. The text refers to the traditional pastoral figure Amyntas who, according to the lamentations by poet Thomas Watson, mourned the death of his beloved Phyllis for eleven wretched days before his eventually taking his own life.

Just as we might be succumbing to sleepiness, the rousing Vigilate by William Byrd (c.1539/40-1623) is a reminder to stay awake and watchful. Byrd takes the biblical text about the destruction of the temple in Mark 13 and imbues it with urgency and vivid word- painting. Listen for the florid call of the cock crowing (‘galli cantu’) and the drowsy lethargy that almost overwhelms the descending vocal lines on the word ‘dormientes’ (‘sleeping’). In the political context of post-Reformation England, Byrd was one of many Catholics forced to conceal his religious life, worshipping secretly and in fear of persecution, with a very real need for vigilance.

Orlande de Lassus (1530/32-1594) was a Flemish composer who worked extensively in the most vibrant musical cities of sixteenth century Europe. Like Byrd he was a lifelong Catholic during this period of religious turbulence, but his oeuvre was far from being exclusively devout. Lassus embraced secular styles freely and lavishly, as can be heard in his chanson Toutes le nuitz. The anonymous poem offers yet another reason to long for slumber – this time not for grief or prayer, but for the opportunity to dream passionately about an absent lover.

Laboravi in gemitu meo is a six-part motet, attributed to Thomas Morley (c.1557-1602) in two seventeenth century English sources, but likely to have been written by the Franco- Flemish composer Philippe Rogier (1561-1596). The music is characterised by undulating, imitative vocal lines, evoking floods of tears and groans of sorrow. The text isolates a single line from Psalm 6, a psalm of David, which begins as an anguished plea for God’s mercy but ends in firm conviction that the Lord has heard and accepted the prayer.

Gentle sleep is a Shakespeare setting by American composer Nico Muhly (b. 1981), premiered by Stile Antico at Wigmore Hall in 2015. The text is from William Shakespeare’s history play Henry IV Part Two, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. The troubled King Henry laments that sleep comes so easily to the poorest of his subjects in their humble and uncomfortable dwellings, whilst he himself is ensconced in luxury but remains fretfully awake. Muhly’s setting diffuses the text in insomniac fragments amid the contemplative vastness of a sleepless night.

After a long disquieting night, the first hints of daylight shine through in O nata lux by Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585). Tallis was one of the most influential composers of Tudor England, serving in the court and of four consecutive monarchs from Henry VIII to . With a text celebrating the redemptive light of Christ, O nata lux remains one of his most beloved choral pieces. The harmonies have a beautiful luminosity but also reveal a haunting, awestruck reverence through false relations and metrical shifts.

The dawn madrigal Ecco mormorar l’onde by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) paints a gentle wash of radiance, as the natural world greets the morning light. The sea and sky are balanced in symmetrical ease and a cool breeze soothes the fevered hearts who suffered during the night. The evocative poetry is by Torquato Tasso, an accomplished writer favoured by Monteverdi for many of his masterful madrigal settings published in the final decades of the sixteenth century.

The glorious light of day is fully realised in Ave Dei Patris filia by John Taverner (c.1490- 1545). Taverner was an English composer and organist, known for his vast output of masses and . This work is the largest-scale of Taverner’s several votive antiphons, Latin devotional songs marking the end of office services. The resplendent text is in seven stanzas, a number associated with the Virgin Mary, praising her virtues in turn and comparing her immaculate light with that of the sun, moon and stars. TEXTS & TRANSLATIONS

Draw on, sweet Night, best friend unto those cares That do arise from painful melancholy. My life so ill through want of comfort fares, that unto thee I consecrate it wholly. Sweet Night, draw on! My griefs when they be told To shades and darkness find some ease from paining, And while thou all in silence dost enfold, I then shall have best time for my complaining.

Anon.

Christe qui lux es et dies, Christ, who art the light and day, Noctis tenebras detegis, You drive away the darkness of night, Lucisque lumen crederis, You are called the light of light, Lumen beatum praedicans. For you proclaim the blessed light.

Precamur Sancte Domine, We beseech you, Holy Lord, Defende nos in hac nocte, Protect us this night. Sit nobis in te requies, Let us take our rest in you; Quietam noctem tribue. Grant us a tranquil night

Ne gravis somnus irruat, Let our sleep be free from care; Nec hostis nos surripiat, Let not the enemy snatch us away, Nec caro illi consentiens, Nor flesh conspire within him, Nos tibi reos statuat. And make us guilty in your sight.

Oculi somnum capiant, Though our eyes be filled with sleep, Cor ad te semper vigilet, Keep our hearts forever awake to you. Dextera tua protegat May your right hand protect Famulos qui te diligunt. Your willing servants.

Defensor noster aspice, You who are our shield, behold; Insidiantes reprime, Restrain those that lie in wait. Guberna tuos famulos, And guide your servants whom Quos sanguine mercatus es. You have ransomed with your blood. Memento nostri Domine Remember us, O Lord, In gravi isto corpore, Who bear the burden of this mortal form; Qui es defensor animae, You who are the defender of the soul, Adesto nobis Domine. Be near us, O Lord.

Deo Patri sit gloria, Glory be to God the Father, Eiusque soli Filio, And to his only Son, Cum Spiritu Paraclito, With the Spirit, Comforter, Et nunc et in perpetuum. Amen. Both now and evermore. Amen.

Compline hymn

Come, sable night, put on thy mourning stole, and help Amyntas sadly to condole. Behold, the sun hath shut his golden eye, the day is spent, and shades fair lights supply. All things in sweet repose their labours close; Only Amyntas wastes his hours in wailing, whilst all his hopes do faint, and life is failing.

John Ward (1571-1638)

Vigilate, nescitis enim quando Watch ye therefore for you know not when dominus domus veniat, the lord of the house cometh, sero, an media nocte, at even, or at midnight, an gallicantu, an mane. or at the cock crowing, or in the morning: Vigilate ergo, ne cum venerit repente, Watch therefore, lest coming on a sudden, inveniat vos dormientes. he find you sleeping. Quod autem dico vobis, omnibus dico: And what I say to you, I say to all: vigilate. Watch.

Mark 13.35-37

Toutes les nuitz que sans vous je me couche, Every night that I sleep without you, Pensant à vous ne fay que sommeiller, Thinking of you makes me want only to slumber, Et en revant jusques au resveiller So as to dream of you until awakening Incessemment vous quiers parmi la couche, Seeking you incessantly in the bed, Et bien souvent au lieu de vostre bouche And often in place of your mouth En soupirant je baise l'oreiller. With a sigh I kiss the pillow.

Anon. Laboravi in gemitu meo; I am weary of my groaning; lavabo per singulas noctes lectum meum: every night wash I my bed lacrimis meis stratum meum rigabo. and water my couch with my tears.

Psalm 6.7

O sleep, O gentle sleep, Nature's soft nurse, how have I frightened thee, That thou no more will weigh my eyelids down, And steep my senses in forgetfulness? Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs, Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee, And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber, Than in the perfum'd chambers of the great, Under the canopies of costly state, And lull'd with sound of sweetest melody?

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

O nata lux de lumine, O Light born of Light, Jesu redemptor saeculi, Jesus, redeemer of the world, Dignare clemens supplicum with loving-kindness deign to receive Laudes precesque sumere. suppliant praise and prayer. Qui carne quondam contegi Thou who once deigned to be clothed in flesh Dignatus es pro perditis, for the sake of the lost, Nos membra confer effici grant us to be members Tui beati corporis. of thy blessed body.

Anon.

Ecco mormorar l'onde Here are the waves murmuring e tremolar le fronde and the foliage quivering a l'aura mattutina e gli arboscelli, at the morning breeze; and the shrubs, e sovra i verdi rami i vaghi augelli and on the tree branches the pretty birds cantar soavemente sing softly; e rider l'oriente. and the Orient smiles. Ecco già l'alba appare Here dawn looms up e si specchia nel mare and is reflected in the sea e rasserena il cielo and brightens up the sky e [le campagne] imperla il dolce gelo, and beads the sweet ice e gli alti monti indora. and gilds the tall mountains. O bella e vaga Aurora, O beautiful and vague dawn, L'aura è tua messaggera, the gentle breeze is your herald [e tu de l'aura and you [are the herald] of the breeze ch'ogni arso cor ristaura. which refreshes every burnt heart.

Torquato Tasso (1545-1595) Ave Dei patris filia nobilissima, Hail, most noble daughter of God the father, Dei filii mater dignissima, most worthy mater of the Son of God, Dei Spiritus sponsa venustissima, most graceful bride of God's Spirit, Dei unius et trini ancilla subiectissima. closest servant of God one and trine.

Ave summae aeternitatis filia clementissima, Hail, most clement daughter of the highest Eternity, summae veritatis mater piissima, most blessed mother of the highest Truth, summae bonitatis sponsa benignissima, most benign bride of the highest Kindness, summae trinitatis ancillia mitissima. meekest servant of the highest Trinity.

Ave aeternae caritatis desideratissima filia, Hail, most beloved daughter of everlasting Charity, aeternae sapientiae mater gratissima, most thankful mother of everlasting Wisdom, aeternae spirationis sponsa sacratissima, most sacred bride of everlasting Inspiration, aeternae maiestatis ancilla sincerissima. sincerest servant of everlasting Majesty.

Ave Jesu tui filii dulcis filia, Hail, sweet daughter of your son Jesus, Christi Dei tui mater alma, bountiful mother of Christ, your God, sponsa sine ulla macula, bride without the slightest blemish, deitatis ancilla sessioni proxima. handmaid of the coming of the Lord.

Ave Domini filia singulariter generosa, Hail, most singularly generous daughter of the Lord, Domini mater singulariter gloriosa, most singularly glorious mother of the Lord, Domini sponsa singulariter speciosa, most singularly beautiful bride of the Lord, Domini ancilla singulariter obsequiosa. most singularly obedient handmaid of the Lord.

Ave plena gratia solis regina, Hail, queen of the sun, full of grace, misericordiae mater, meritis praeclara, mother of misericordy, famous by her merits, mundi domina, a patriarchis praesignata, mistress of the world, preordained by the patriarchs, imperatrix inferni, a profetis praeconizata. empress of hell, foretold by the prophets

Ave virgo facta Hail, virgin made ut sol praeelecta, as unique as the sun, mater intacta, mother unblemished, sicut luna perpulcra, as beautiful as the moon, salve parens inclita, hail, famous begetter, enixa puerpera, diligent mother, stella maris praefulgida, splendid star of the sea, felix caeli porta: auspicious gate of Heaven: esto nobis via recta be for us a straight path ad aeterna gaudia, to eternal joy, ubi pax est et gloria. where peace and glory are.

O gloriosissima semper virgo Maria. Oh, most glorious and ever-virgin Mary. Amen. Amen.

Votive antiphon PERFORMERS

Stile Antico Soprano Tenor Helen Ashby Andrew Griffiths Kate Ashby Jonathan Hanley Rebecca Hickey Benedict Hymas

Alto Bass Emma Ashby James Arthur Cara Curran Will Dawes Sophie Timms Nathan Harrison

Stile Antico is firmly established as one of the world’s most accomplished and innovative vocal ensembles. Working without a conductor, its twelve members have thrilled audiences on four continents with their fresh, vibrant and moving performances of polyphony. Its bestselling recordings have earned accolades including the Gramophone Award for , Diapason d’or de l’année, Edison Klassiek Award, and Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. The group has received three Grammy® nominations, and performed live at the 60th Grammy® Awards at Madison Square Garden.

Based in London, Stile Antico has appeared at many of the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals. The group enjoys a particularly close association with Wigmore Hall, and has performed at the BBC Proms, Buckingham Palace, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Cité de la Musique, Luxembourg Philharmonie, and Leipzig Gewandhaus. Stile Antico is frequently invited to appear at Europe’s leading festivals: highlights include the Antwerp, Bruges, Utrecht and York Early Music Festivals, the Lucerne Easter Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Stile Antico has thrown its energy into digital projects, producing a 'virtual choir' recording of Tallis' Spem in Alium, a music film to mark the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower voyage, and a series of lecture-recitals, Sundays with Stile, as well as giving live-streamed concerts from Wigmore Hall and the York Festiva. In early 2021, the group will give further streamed concerts for Boston Early Music Festival, Live From London, and St Martin-in-the-Fields, and release its first recording for Decca Classics, marking 500 years since the death of Josquin. Our thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, for supporting the Fresh Horizons concert series at St Martin-in-the-Fields.

This concert was pre-recorded in the church and edited together before broadcast. The performers and technical crew carefully adhere to all current government regulations for COVID-19. Stile Antico (c. Marco Borggreve) Other concerts in the Fresh Horizons series:

Stile Antico: Josquin - Piatti Quartet Father of the Renaissance Thursday 25 March, 7.30pm Thursday 4 February, 7.30pm Stainer – The Crucifixion St Martin’s Players: Thursday 1 April, 7.30pm The Golden Age of Jazz Thursday 11 February, 7.30pm Handel – Messiah Thursday 8 April, 7.30pm Stile Antico: A Garden of Delights Thursday 18 February, 7.30pm The Gesualdo Six Thursday 15 April, 7.30pm London Mozart Players: Beethoven Concerto Academy of St Martin in the Fields Thursday 25 February, 7.30pm with John Butt Thursday 22 April, 7.30pm Academy of St Martin in the Fields: Bach and Brahms Chineke! Chamber Ensemble Thursday 11 March, 7.30pm Thursday 29 April, 7.30pm

Peter Donohoe Thursday 18 March, 7.30pm

All concerts are available to watch from 30 days after their release date

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