o il IC00BoltPage Nos. Job Title SIGCD070 Booklet Catalogue No. SIGCD070 Customer SIGNUMCLASSICS Compact Disc Booklet: Double Page Spread Template: CD_DPS1 CTP

c Stella Maris BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN COLOURS CTP Template: CD_DPS1 COLOURS Compact Disc Booklet: Double Page Spread CYAN MAGENTA Customer SIGNUMCLASSICS YELLOW Catalogue No. SIGCD070 BLACK Job Title SIGCD070 Booklet Page Nos.

ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH ALSO on signumclassics

1. All the Ends of the Earth Judith Weir [8.48] 2. Kyrie eleison Anonymous, c. 1000 [3.19] 3. Sint lumbi James Weeks [4.26] 4. Vir perfecte Anonymous, 13th century [7.17] 5. Bayan Northcott [5.54] 6. Gemma nitens Anonymous, 14th century [3.08] 7. Stabant autem iuxta crucem Michael Finnissy [2.44] 8. Quam pulchra es John Dunstaple (d.1453) [2.31] 9. Bayan Northcott [4.55] 10. Alma Redemptoris Mater Sarum plainchant with discant [2.05] 11. Sanctus (Missa Canonica) Robin Holloway [3.10] 12. Agnus Dei (Missa Canonica) Robin Holloway [2.39] 13. Stella maris Anonymous, 14th century [3.14] Songs of Angels SIGCD038 Anthems for the 21st Century SIGCD059 Cantos Sagrados SIGCD508 14. O Jesu, Nomen Dulce Jonathan Harvey [4.34] 15. Mater ora filium Anonymous, 14th century [1.09] An inspired collection of music that was either No less than nine new commissions are on this In his choral music James Macmillan 16. Thomas, Jewel of Canterbury Gabriel Jackson [8.36] sung at Magdalen College or written by Magdalen extraordinary release from the Vasari Singers on characteristically draws inspiration for his 17. Campanis cum cymbalis Anonymous, 14th century [1.25] composers between 1480 and 1560. which all tracks are world premiere recordings. vocal works from recurring themes such as the Celebrating their 25th anniversary, Anthems for Catholic Church and Scottish traditional the 21st Century features the work of Dove, culture. Works on this disc include: Cantos Total Time Composers featured on this disc are: Davy, Mason, [71.12] Rathbone, Todd, Filsell, Clucas, Barlow, Sagrados, The Gallant Weaver and Christus Jacquet of Mantua, Preston, Appleby, and Jackson, MacMillan, Moore, Blackford, Bignold Vincit (1994). three pieces by Sheppard. and Swingle.

The of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge GeofFrey Webber, DIRECTOR www.signumrecords.com William Towers, Countertenor Available through most record stores and at www.signumrecords.com. For more information call +44 (0) 20 8997 4000 www.signumrecords.com - 23 - CTP Template: CD_DPS1 COLOURS Compact Disc Booklet: Double Page Spread CYAN MAGENTA Customer SIGNUMCLASSICS YELLOW Catalogue No. SIGCD070 BLACK Job Title SIGCD070 Booklet Page Nos.

ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

AN INTRODUCTION replaced by if not a torrent then certainly a steady stream of compositions written under medieval influence. A deliberately large This recording celebrates the vibrant relationship that has and diverse group of contemporary composers has been included in developed in recent years between contemporary sacred British this recording, though several other established figures such as choral music and the music of the medieval era, allowing several Thomas Adès and Diana Burrell might also have been chosen. The works composed in recent years to be heard alongside the type of catalyst for the new trend was the increasing availability of music that inspired their creation. Some of these relationships are medievalFourteenth music, Century both as a result of the work of scholars and very close, where composers have drawn on a particular medieval editors, such as those involved in Polyphonic Music of the work or school of composition, whilst others reflect a more general (1956-85) and of recording artists, notably influence. Two have been composed specially for the David Munrow’s Consort of London, whose brilliant recording; most of the medieval works have been freshly edited, collection Music of the Gothic Era appeared in 1976. More recently and there are new reconstructions of music from the Winchester specialist groups such as Gothic Voices and the Orlando Consort Troper and of the tradition of improvised discant based have commissioned new music to stand alongside their core on plainsong. repertoire. Bayan Northcott’s Ave Regina celorum, the first-written of his Four Votive - of which two others are included on At the beginning of the last century English composers of church this recording - was commissioned and premiered at the 1987 music began to look back to the period for inspiration, Cheltenham Festival by Gothic Voices. Northcott wrote as follows: finding a welcome release from the style of the day through a “Having long admired the supreme accomplishment of Christopher Recorded in the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral in P 2006 The copyright in this recording is owned by Signum Records Ltd. rekindling of the workings of modality and counterpoint. Settings of Page’s Gothic Voices in , I was thrilled to be offered September 2004 by kind permission of the Dean and Chapter. C 2006 The copyright in this CD booklet, notes and design is owned by Signum Records Ltd. the Mass Ordinary by composers such as Herbert Howells (1912), their first contemporary commission”. But if this music is Any unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying or re-recording of Signum Compact Producer - Thomas Hewitt Jones Charles Wood (1922/3) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (1921) were essentiallyDoctor optime soloistic and specialist in conception, other composers Engineer - Edward Bainton Discs constitutes an infringement of copyright and will render the infringer liable to an action by beacons in this new development which persisted as a small but were happy to work more in the mainstream world of choral music. law. Licences for public performances or broadcasting may be obtained from Phonographic Assistant Engineer - Hugh Conway distinctive thread in English church music throughout the century. This is true of most of Gabriel Jackson’s output, and the success of Editor - Thomas Hewitt Jones Performance Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this booklet may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval The use of medieval rather than as a direct his approach was recognised by the award given to his O Artwork and design - Woven Design system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording Photograph of Geoffrey Webber - Yao Liang or otherwise, without prior permission from Signum Records Ltd. source of inspiration began to emerge in the second half of the in the liturgical category of the inaugural British All other Photography - Caius College Choir century, but at first only sporadically. Peter Maxwell Davies was a Composer Awards in 2003, a work commissioned by Caius College notable pioneer; his early interest in the music of was Choir for a BBC broadcast of Sunday Worship on Radio 4 in March SignumClassics, Signum Records Ltd., Suite 14, 21 Wadsworth Road, Perivale, Sacred Motets www.signumrecords.com Middx UB6 7JD, UK +44 (0) 20 8997 4000 E-mail: [email protected] followed by a pursuit of medieval English music in particular, and that year. But many neo-medieval compositions work well for either his carol settings of the 1960s follow precisely the form and solo or choral forces, whilst others contain an effective technique of the fifteenth-century English carol. But by the end of juxtaposition of the two sonorities, as in Michael Finnissy’s Seven the century such isolated pockets of medievalism came to be of 1993. This contrast also appears to be implied by

- 22 - - 3 - CTP Template: CD_DPS1 COLOURS Compact Disc Booklet: Double Page Spread CYAN MAGENTA Customer SIGNUMCLASSICS YELLOW Catalogue No. SIGCD070 BLACK Job Title SIGCD070 Booklet Page Nos.

perfecte

some music of the early medieval period in particular, in which part-music, and this recording has been made in one of the finest plainsong alternates with part-music, as in the Vir late-medieval buildings of this type, the free-standing Lady Chapel , though it is not possible to be certain about whether at Ely Cathedral erected in the fourteenth century. Most of the individuals or groups of voices were intended to perform the contemporary works on the recording also benefit from this type of sections (or the part-music, for that matter). acoustic environment. Gabriel Jackson’s Thomas, Jewel of Canterbury, for example, builds on the dissonant effects created by listening to The various contemporary composers represented in this recording plainsong in a reverberant acoustic by composing lines of quasi- naturally take different points of departure, choosing to highlight plainsong which are sung out of time with one another. differentthe ends aspects of the earthof medieval music, from plainsong and modal harmony in general to all aspects of part-music involving texture, geoffrey webber William Towers rhythm and structure. Concerning mode, Judith Weir chooses to preserve the modality of Perotin’s Viderunt omnes throughout All 1. All the Ends of the Earth (1999), Judith Weir (Chester Music) Geoffrey Webber began his musical education as a chorister at William Towers read English at Gonville & Caius College, , including only a few B flats in the Lydian All the Ends of the Earth was commissioned by the BBC for a Salisbury Cathedral, and after being Music Scholar at The King’s Cambridge and studied as a postgraduate scholar at the Royal mode on F, just as appear in the plainsong itself. Robin Holloway’s Europe-wide radio broadcast on Millennium Day, 1st January, 2000, School, Worcester he was elected to an Organ Scholarship at New Academy of Music. In his first year after leaving the Academy he Missa Canonica is subtitled ‘Missa bianca’ since not a single black and is based on Pérotin’s organum Viderunt Omnes, composed College, Oxford, in 1977. At Oxford his academic tutors and organ featured extensively as a soloist in Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Bach note appears in the entire composition. Bayan Northcott’s works circa 1200. “In this work, the pitches and proportions of Perotin’s teachers included Edward Higginbottom, John Caldwell, James Cantata Pilgrimage. Subsequently a busy solo career has featured begin modally with the plainsong to the fore, but also include and its text have been retained exactly (re-scored, Dalton, Nicholas Danby and Gillian Weir. After graduating with a appearances in many major venues and festivals including St. moments of extreme chromaticism. At the other end of the however, and sung by tenors and basses). But the duplum, triplum First he remained in Oxford to pursue research into German church John’s Smith Square, the Barbican Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, the spectrum, Jonathan Harvey’s Jesu nomen dulce is atonal throughout, and quadruplum have been replaced by freely composed settings of omnia music of the seventeenth century, combining this with activities as Großes Festspielhaus Salzburg, the Berlin Philharmonie, the finding its medieval inspiration more in textures and rhythms. One texts from the tenth century Alleluyatic Sequence (sung by an organist and conductor. He served as Acting Organist at both Konzerthaus Vienna, the National Auditorium Madrid, the Three medieval piece included on this recording, Stella maris illustrans sopranos and altos.) The Alleluyatic sequence, based on Psalm New College and Magdalen College, and was appointed as Festival, the Ravenna Festival, the Flanders Early Music , shows that some medieval composers also sought to push 148, was written for the week before Septuagesima, after which, Assisting Organist at Magdalen College in 1982 and University Festival, the Festivale de Musique Ancienne de Lyon and at La harmony to the limits; it survives in the fly-leaves to an early- the singing of the word Alleluia was prohibited until Easter, in the Organist and Director of Music at the University Church in 1984. Chaise Dieu, working with many distinguished conductors such as modern book found in Caius College Library, and has been cited as churches of Western Europe. In addition, a small instrumental During this time he also became Director of the Edington Festival, Richard Hickox, Sir Roger Norrington, Paul McCreesh, Robert King, one of the most remarkable survivals in medieval music on account ensemble of and percussion has been added to embellish the a festival of music within the liturgy at Edington, Wiltshire. After Stephen Layton and Emmanuelle Haïm. Operatic roles have of its chromatically shifting parallel triads. Medieval music is cantus firmus, and to mark punctuation points in the composition.” completing his doctorate in 1989 he was appointed Precentor and included Medoro in Handel’s Orlando for the Royal Opera House rarely this chromatic, though much of the earlier repertoire is (Judith Weir). Director of Music at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, and he Covent Garden, Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for coloured by regular use of the intervals of the second and fourth, now also serves as an Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of Music, Teatro La Fenice Venice, Orfeo in Glück’s Orfeo ed Euridice in Monte creating an entirely different sound-world from the smooth triadic 2. Kyrie eleison, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS 473, dividing his time between conducting, organ playing, lecturing, Carlo, Lance in the première of Paul Frehner’s Sirius on Earth for sonorities established by the mid-fifteenth century. The Kyrie sung reconstructed by Susan Rankin teaching, editing and research projects. He is a committee member the Almeida, the title role in Handel’s Lotario for the London Handel here from the Winchester Troper, compiled c.1000, is replete with The Winchester Troper holds a special place in the history of forCompanionAge the of RoyalBuxtehude to College the Organ of Organists and the Church Music Society, Festival and Eustazio in Handel’s Rinaldo for Grange Park. His other these intervals, and this has been directly taken up by James Weeks Western music since it is the earliest practical source of music in and his publications include North German Church Music in the recordings include Messiah with the ESO, Purcell’s Fairy Queen, in Sint lumbi, which opens with the disjointed presentation of more than one part to have survived anywhere Europe. It was (OUP, 1996), and as co-editor, the Cambridge Bach’s St Mark Passion and several Bach Cantatas with Gardiner. seconds and fourths. written down almost exactly 1000 years ago, and survives in the (CUP, 1998), and The Restoration Anthem library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The manuscript (CMS/OUP, 2003-). The spacious acoustics of the great medieval churches were an contains a repertory of plainsong with an added second voice, both important ingredient in the sound-world of plainsong and medieval parts being written in a form of imprecise musical short-hand. Dr

- 4 - - 21 - CTP Template: CD_DPS1 COLOURS Compact Disc Booklet: Double Page Spread CYAN MAGENTA Customer SIGNUMCLASSICS YELLOW Catalogue No. SIGCD070 BLACK Job Title SIGCD070 Booklet Page Nos.

Rankin’s study of this and other sources of the period has led to the sections in which the two parts move more closely together. The biographies reconstruction sung here. The added voice sits generally just below pitch chosen for this performance allows the free upper part to be the pitch of the chant itself, moving either in parallel with it or sung by a modern countertenor, thus facilitating comparison with forming a held-note accompaniment. Bayan Northcott’s Salve Regina. Votive Antiphons The Choir of Gonville and The choir’s recordings have tended to specialise in the re-discovery Caius College, Cambridge of forgotten choral repertories, often including previously 3. Sint lumbi (2004), James Weeks (BMIC/New Voices) 5. Salve Regina (1999), Bayan Northcott (Stainer & Bell) unpublished music from within the English choral tradition and Sint lumbi is a “reading-through” of another two-part piece from Bayan Northcott’s Salve Regina is the first in his cycle of Four the Winchester Troper transcribed by Susan Rankin. The two-part , Opus 7, which sets the four anthems to the Gonville and Caius College was founded in 1348, but the musical beyond. A series of highly acclaimed releases (mainly on the former sonorities of the Troper are heard initially divided into two groups, Blessed Virgin Mary sung at Compline during the church’s year. The tradition stems from the late nineteenth century when Charles ASV label) has included music by English composers Samuel the sopranos and altos together, and the tenors and basses, three musical components of works such as V form the Wood became Organist. The choir in Wood’s day contained boy Wesley, William Child, Edmund Rubbra and Patrick Hadley, ir Perfecte dislocated and broken down into separate two-note chords. Single basis of the composition, though the two two-part idioms are here trebles, but it is now a mixed undergraduate group directed by Dr Rebecca Clarke, Robin Holloway and John Sanders, and by grace notes are then gradually added, building on the Winchester amalgamated into continuous passages which move almost Geoffrey Webber, who has been Precentor and Director of Studies in continental composers Joseph Rheinberger, Giacomo Puccini and device of one part moving into unison with another to give an effect imperceptibly between freer and more rhythmic styles. Northcott Music at the College since 1989. The choir sings Chapel services Leonardo Leo. The choir has also released two reconstructions, the v not unlike a grace note. The same basic textural division remains himself cites the recorded performances of Léonin (Pérotin’s during the University term and has a busy schedule of additional Latin Mass in E Flat by Janácek and the St. Mark Passion by J. S. in force throughout the piece, but the grace notes become ever colleague at Notre-Dame in Paris) by the vocal group Red Byrd as activities including concerts, recordings and broadcasts. It travels Bach (and Keiser), three programmes of Swiss music on the Guild more complex with groups of eight or more being introduced, his model here. extensively abroad, performing at a variety of venues ranging from label in conjunction with the National Library of Zürich, and, on the almost swallowing up the main note. The increase in tension major concert halls to universities, cathedrals and churches in Priory label, two volumes of the complete anthems of Charles Wood. caused by this is mirrored by an increasingly chromatic tonal 6. Gemma nitens, Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, MS 512, Europe, America and beyond, often in connection with other A DVD of music by Francis Poulenc featuring the Choirs of St John’s, language, and an explosion of chromatic grace notes introduces edited by Christopher Hodkinson professional ensembles such as Opera Northern Ireland and the Clare and Caius Colleges, has been released on the Opus Arte the first of three short bursts of chant sung by a soloist in a fierce This two-part piece dates from the early fourteenth century and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra of San Francisco, and also gives label, and other collaborations include a recording of music by John declamatory style. reflects something of the common devotion to the Blessed Virgin a number of concerts in Cambridge, London and elsewhere in the Rutter with the choir of King’s College and the City of Birmingham Mary during this period that extended well beyond strict liturgical UK each year, appearing in venues such as St John’s, Smith Square Symphony Orchestra, recently released by EMI. Future CD releases 4. Vir Perfecte, St Andrews MS (Wolfenbüttel, Codex Helmstadensis observance. The text makes reference to the Annunciation, a and at the Spitalfields Festival in London, as well as performing in include a programme of music by Charles Gounod and a recording 628), transcribed by Nicolas Bell popular Feast in Marian devotion that became associated with a churches, schools and halls around the country. of 16th-century music with the recently reconstructed Two Tudor Organs by Goetze and Gwynn. The St Andrews manuscript of c.1240 provides a link between the variety of institutions that survive today, including pubs called the music of the Parisian school of Pérotin and the development of Salutation Inn, and Gonville Hall in Cambridge, dedicated to the Live radio broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 form a regular feature of the measured polyphony in Britain, containing both music from Notre- Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Edmund Gonville in Choir’s schedule. Broadcasts of Choral Evensong have been notably For further information, follow the choir links on the College’s Dame and works that were probably composed by British 1348, now Gonville & Caius College. The simple musical language adventurous in content and have ranged from baroque anthems web-site (http://www.cai.cam.ac.uk). composers in direct imitation of the new styles developed in Paris. of the piece allows the direct expression of the text in a freely performed with period instruments to Russian and Greek Orthodox Perfecte Two centuries after the Winchester Troper, composers now wrote melodic idiom with recurring phrases and gestures. music, South African music, and music composed especially for the long and free melismatic lines over each note of the chant, and had choir by leading British composers such as James MacMillan. the notational resources to compose in rhythmic patterns. Vir 7. Stabant autem iuxta crucem (1993), Michael Finnissy (Oxford The choir has also appeared on television programmes on is a Responsory for the Feast of St Andrew, and so may University Press) BBC 1, BBC 2, Channel 4 and the BBC World Service, and on have been composed for use at the cathedral priory in St Andrews Michael Finnissy’s Seven Sacred Motets develop many different several foreign networks. by a local composer. It juxtaposes three musical styles within the strands of medieval music, ranging from chant and other monody standard responsorial pattern, the chant alone, the free melismatic () to various free and measured polyphonic style over held notes of the chant, and the rhythmically defined techniques. The brief yet intense setting of words from the Passion

- 20 - - 5 - CTP Template: CD_DPS1 COLOURS Compact Disc Booklet: Double Page Spread CYAN MAGENTA Customer SIGNUMCLASSICS YELLOW Catalogue No. SIGCD070 BLACK Job Title SIGCD070 Booklet Page Nos.

story in John 19, Stabant autem iuxta crucem, involves quasi- variations of dynamic and accent emphasising the character of The Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge plainsong, two-part writing in “rhythmic unison” akin to the the lines. Director - Geoffrey Webber Winchester Troper repertory (breaking into three parts at the Countertenor - William Towers (tracks 4, 5) conclusion) and the striking contrast of a single voice in free style, 10. Alma Redemptoris Mater, 5-part discant, realized by Geoffrey incorporating many rapid grace notes. Webber after John of Tewkesbury and Several English treatises from the late medieval period describe Sopranos: Katy Butler, Helena Culliney, Emily Hardy, Alex Kidgell, 6. Gemma nitens 8. Quam pulchra es, John Dunstaple the singing of discant, the provision of an improvised line moving Clare Lloyd, Joelle Meakin, Charlotte Roberts, Kitty St Aubyn, Soprano - Katy Butler Marian texts remained as popular as ever in England during note-against-note with a piece of chant. Leonel Power’s treatise Felicity Weston Tenor - Pierre Dechant the fifteenth century, and Quam pulchra es by John Dunstaple dating from the first half of the fifteenth century gives full details Altos: Hannah Cooke, Karl Gietzmann, Eleanor Harries, Carris (d. 1453) reflects one of the common Christian interpretations of of this kind of practice, giving many examples of how the free line Jones, Francesca Massey, Kate Symonds 7. Finnissy, Stabant autem iuxta crucem the Song of Songs as referring to the Blessed Virgin. The deeply might move in relation to the chant. Movement in thirds and sixths Tenors: Pierre Dechant, Joseph Harper, Jo Mills, Charles Normand Tenor - Charles Normand personal and sensuous imagery of the text is conveyed in a direct, was encouraged, whilst parallel fifths and octaves were prohibited. Basses: Thomas Faulkner, James Halliday, John Herford, Alexander mostly syllabic musical style through which the composer clearly Although improvised discant was normally performed in two parts, Patton, Samuel Queen 10. Alma Redemptoris Mater relishes the Latin poetry. Dunstaple sets the crucial text “Veni, John of Tewkesbury’s treatise refers to a manner of performance Joelle Meakin (S1), Eleanor Harries (A), Joseph Harper (T1), Pierre dilecte mi” with rests, pauses and chromatic colour; such music with chant, discant, and up to three other voices moving in parallel Soloists: Dechant (T2), Thomas Faulkner (B) presents a very contrasted atmosphere to the more austere and with the chant using the fifth, octave and twelfth. This track 1. Weir, All the ends of the earth impersonal liturgical world of much medieval repertoire. contains a conjectural realization of this type of sound (with no Emily Hardy (S1), Katy Butler (S2), Joelle Meakin (S3), Alex Kidgell 13. Stella maris claim to authenticity) based on the Sarum version of the Marian (S4), Kate Symonds (A1), Hannah Cooke (A2), Felicity Weston (A3) Countertenor - Karl Gietzmann 9. Alma Redemptoris Mater (2000), Bayan Northcott Alma Redemptoris Mater, combining the full five-part Eleanor Harries (A4) Tenor - Joseph Harper (Stainer & Bell) texture of Tewkesbury with a discant line moving in accordance Marimba - Joe Kearney Bass - John Herford The second of Northcott’s cycle of antiphons sets a version of the with Power’s suggestions. John of Tewkesbury observes that although Glockenspiel - David Ellis plainchant Alma Redemptoris Mater in the top line against two the sound is of many people singing at once the music is in fact Tubular bells - William Lockhart 15. Mater ora filium other simultaneous Marian texts - the bottom line also being very simple, with only one person singing an independent line. Harp - Fiona Treanor Alto - Carris Jones governed by . This was composed for three male voices, Although the discant line is consonant throughout with the chant Tenor - Charles Normand but the composer has happily agreed to the performance given itself, the use of the fifth and twelfth inevitably provide a 2. Winchester Troper, Kyrie Bass - Samuel Queen here, transposed up for soprano and alto chorus. In this piece, considerable level of dissonance. John Herford (B1), Thomas Faulkner (B2) Northcott carries forward the three-part sonorities of early 16. Jackson, Thomas, Jewel of Canterbury fifteenth-century music in the works of John Dunstaple, Leonel 11-12. Sanctus & Agnus Dei: Missa Canonica (Missa Bianca) 3. Weeks, Sint lumbi Soprano - Emily Hardy Power and others, as heard in Quam pulchra es. A closer comparison (1965, rev. 2004), Robin Holloway (Boosey & Hawkes) Tenor - Jo Mills Tenor - Charles Normand might be made between this work and the setting of the same These two Mass movements by Robin Holloway have their origins in Bass - Thomas Faulkner Marian text attributed to both of these composers (omitted due to the 1960s: “I wrote the original version of this Mass in 1964 and 4. Vir perfecte length), since this has a more contrapuntal texture and opens with 1965 for my friend Christopher Herrick and his then choir of St Countertenor - William Towers 17. Campanis cum cymbalis a simple exposition of the opening phrase of chant, as in Mary’s Primrose Hill. He’d provided the book of Sarum usage from Tenor - Pierre Dechant Bells - William Lockhart Northcott’s setting. As in his Salve Regina there is a gradual which I took this lovely material as basis for a study in modality, increase in momentum and tension as the piece progresses, but a white-note tonality, and rudimentary canons. The result was far too 5. Northcott, Salve Regina particular feature of the work as a whole is Northcott’s deployment tricky for the intended purpose. Only the Credo was ever used: the Countertenor - William Towers of detailed performance indications in the score, with subtle rest remained unheard and the sole copy went missing until it Baritone - John Herford

- 6 - - 19 - CTP Template: CD_DPS1 COLOURS Compact Disc Booklet: Double Page Spread CYAN MAGENTA Customer SIGNUMCLASSICS YELLOW Catalogue No. SIGCD070 BLACK Job Title SIGCD070 Booklet Page Nos.

Music of the Fourteenth Century

modis dando iubilum and with individual ways of giving song, turned up early 2004 in a Herrick household reshuffle. Thus I got it of the music: the only published edition of the work (in Polyphonic cum iocosis notulis with joyful notes. back nearly forty years on.” This rediscovery proved timely for the , vol. xvii) presents the music in laudetur per seculum. plans I was then making for this recording, and a liturgical compound time, but Christopher Hodkinson’s edition for this performance of three of the movements in Caius Chapel allowed recording favours duple time. Honoremus dominam Let us honour the Lady, worthy of the court of heaven, Professor Holloway to hear these parts of the Mass for the first dignam celi curie chosen to be the royal mother of the King’s glory. time. “I found the music intriguing, and willingly made some 14. O Jesu, Nomen Dulce (1980), Jonathan Harvey (Faber Music) electam regiam Let there be always jubilation for the mother, changes enabling two of the three...to dispense with their This was composed for the Very Rev. Michael Stancliffe, to matrem Regis glorie after the son, organ-part [for inclusion on this recording]”. The Sanctus (with celebrate the tenth anniversary of his installation as Dean of semper iubilacio and devoted prayer for the condition of the weak. Benedictus) is set for two choirs, and opens with long phrases in Winchester Cathedral in 1979. Harvey has alluded to a wide sphere sit matri post filium which varied rhythmic patterns conflict with one another to of influence present in the work including Tippett and Webern, but devota oracio undermine any sense of regular pulse. The white-note chords also explains that “most important are the 14-15th century pro statu fragilium. amplify the latent modality of the chant and create some highly allusions, as befits the text and the Cathedral for which it was pulchra es unusual sounds, such as the final chord of the Sanctus (“...most written.” These vary from passages of rhythmic complexity to High”) which contains every white note except C, but with a others composed in simple syllabic homophony to enshrine a preponderance of D, the note of the chant. Whilst the Sanctus is crucial phrase such as “dulcissime Jesu” (as in Dunstaple’s Quam texturally diverse, the Agnus Dei maintains for the most part a ). The resulting work is compact, intense, and unique in three-part texture, echoing much fourteenth and early-fifteenth style even within Harvey’s own choral music. century repertoire. Here the compositional technique turns more to canonic writing: the movement opens with the chant sung at one 15. Mater ora filium, , , Rawl. speed by the altos and at half-speed by the sopranos and tenors liturg. d. 3 in octaves. In contrast to Stella maris illustrans omnia, this work seems to have had a liturgical function, appearing as the only polyphonic 13. Stella maris illustrans omnia, Gonville & Caius College, item in a Gradual of Sarum chant, and is based on a cantus firmus Cambridge, MS 334, ed. Christopher Hodkinson in the middle voice. The musical style is also quite different, This type of composition is generally referred to as a cantilena, a featuring a more lively top voice. Only brief, the work has great freely composed piece in three parts based on a non-liturgical text, charm; the pleasing arch structure is given some fine surface taking its musical style from the manner of chant elaboration detail in the form of a four-against-three rhythmic group, a false favouring parallel first-inversion triads, the so-called descant relation (B flat against B natural) and a decorative group of 5 notes style. Whilst some cantilenas are notable for their rhythmic in the time of 4 at the final cadence. flexibility, this early fourteenth-century piece contains an unusually high degree of chromatic writing. The eight strophes of text are set 16. Thomas, Jewel of Canterbury (2004), Gabriel Jackson in pairs to four sections of music, the final two of which are the (BMIC/Contemporary Voices) most intense. The third section features parallel root-position The text of this motet comes from a fourteenth-century polyphonic triads moving by semitone (C minor to B minor) and a sudden shift composition in honour of Thomas of Canterbury, one copy of which of focus towards the triad of A flat before a return to the home triad survives in the same Caius College manuscript as Gemma nitens. of F. Although the score leaves little room for ambiguity concerning The work was commissioned by Bill Packer for the Caius College the notes themselves there are two possible rhythmic interpretations Choir in memory of the composer Patrick Hadley, Precentor of Caius

- 18 - - 7 - CTP Template: CD_DPS1 COLOURS Compact Disc Booklet: Double Page Spread CYAN MAGENTA Customer SIGNUMCLASSICS YELLOW Catalogue No. SIGCD070 BLACK Job Title SIGCD070 Booklet Page Nos.

1946-62. Conscious medievalisms abound in the work, including 15. Mater ora filium, Oxford Bod. 3 simple quasi-plainsong, block chords, various forms of canonic writing, and much surface rhythmic embellishment with groups of Mater, ora filium, Mother, pray thy son threes, fours and fives, as in Mater ora filium. Grace notes are also ut post hoc exilium that after this exile a prominent feature of the work, inspired by the performing style of nobis donet gaudium he give us joy Marcel Peres. sine fine. without end.

17. Campanis cum cymbalis, Bodleian Library, University of Sola spes errancium O sole hope of the wayward, Oxford, MS c: 60 mersos per naufragium save them that are drowning in a shipwreck, Track 6, Gemma nitens The bi-textual motet Campanis cum cymbalis / Honoremus Dominam salva sedans tedium and assuage the grief of threefold death. is constructed on a two-voice ostinato apparently inspired by the mortis trine. text to imitate the tolling of bells. The work is sung here by multiple voices singing in octaves, given the relative simplicity of the 16. Thomas, Jewel of Canterbury, Gabriel Jackson harmony on such a limited pes, and the incorporation of bells into the performance echoes the use of instruments heard at the start Thomas gemma Cantuarie primula, Thomas, unrivalled jewel of Canterbury, of the recording in Judith Weir’s motet. fide pro tuenda cesus in ecclesia, slain in church for maintaining the faith, suddenly shining with the a divina repentina mira caritate fulgens. wondrous love of God, morning and evening, Acknowledgements maturtina vespertina lucis increate gratia late tibi nova reparte, ablaze with the fresh grace of uncreated light renewed in you, you Thanks are due to many people who helped provide music, expertise sublimaris curia regis pro fidelitate tua; are elevated to the court of the heavenly king for your faithfulness; and ideas for this recording. My attention was first drawn to Judith a ruina lete bina per te liberate sunt a fece et ab amaro malo through you, man is freed from the twofold calamity of filthy sin Weir’s All the ends of the earth by Gabriel Jackson. Special thanks frivolo, and the bitter, worthless apple, are due to James Weeks and Gabriel Jackson for composing pieces a sentina serpentina gentes expiate et a viciis, and cleansed of the serpent’s vileness and of corruption; specially for the project, and to Robin Holloway for adapting singularis nuncuparis gratia ditatus, you are proclaimed as one pre-eminent, rich in grace, movements of his Missa Canonica. The composers Gabriel Jackson, super hinc perfectos et electos tu es sublimatus, and hereafter are exalted above the perfect and the elect, Robin Holloway, Bayan Northcott, James Weeks and Judith Weir rivulo madido pie sanans egros, healing the sick with a stream of tender tears, were all kind enough to be present at the recording sessions of their preciosis generosis gemmis tumulatus aureis modulo tumulo, buried in a tomb bright with splendour and honour, works. Thanks are also due to the following who helped in many cum decore vel honore pie laureatus, worthily venerated amongst the citizens of heaven, different ways: Edward Bainton, Nicolas Bell, Celia Cobb, Hugh in celis inter cives celicos digne veneratus, Thomas, you are beseeched with fervent love to help your people in Conway, Hannah Cooke, Dave Ellis, Jonathan Harvey, Thomas Hewitt Thoma nunc pro populo stimulo tempestatis caritate fervida rogatus. these tempestuous times. Jones, Christopher Hodkinson, Joe Kearney, Alex Kidgell, Janet Leebetter, Will Lockhart, Jonathan Lilley, Francesca Massey, Joelle 17. Campanis cum cymbalis/Honoremus Dominam, Oxford Bod. 60 Meakin, Charles Normand, Bayan Northcott, Christopher Page, Sarah Track 13, Stella maris Parkinson, Sam Queen, Susan Rankin, Stephen Shipley, Fiona Campanis cum cymbalis Let the whole choir of mankind praise Treanor, Paul Trepte. Oliver Phillips deserves special thanks for omnis chorus hominum the Lord with bells and cymbals; advising on and executing many of the translations from the Latin. liris et psalteriis let the heavens praise Him Geoffrey Webber laudent celi dominum with and . organis ac singulis Let Him be praised for ever with organs,

- 8 - - 17 - CTP Template: CD_DPS1 COLOURS Compact Disc Booklet: Double Page Spread CYAN MAGENTA Customer SIGNUMCLASSICS YELLOW Catalogue No. SIGCD070 BLACK Job Title SIGCD070 Booklet Page Nos.

Sit cor mite, May the heart be gentle, Texts munda sit accio, the action clean, detur rite and may reflection 1. All the Ends of the Earth, Judith Weir consideracio be duly instilled verbis oris. in the words from our lips. VIDERUNT OMNES (from Psalm 98)

Apes illa O bee Viderunt omnes fines terrae salutare Dei nostri. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. que mel dat omnibus, giving honey to all, Notum fecit Dominus salutare suum: The Lord hath made known his salvation: dulce stilla distill for our sinners ante conspectum gentium revelavit justitiam suam. he hath revealed his justice in the sight of the gentiles. nostris peccatoribus the sweet honey Let us sing Alleluia mel amoris. of love. THE ALLELUYATIC SEQUENCE

Vitam reddit The flower of our world Cantemus Alleluia In the praises of the eternal king per te flos seculi, restores life through thee, In laudibus aeterni regis Let Alleluia resound tibi cedit the raging fury Resultet Alleluia mortis et Zabuli of death and the devil fremens furor. yield to thee. Hoc beatorum Let the company of the blessed Psallat concentus sing this Alleluia Fac urticas Deal with the lustful desires Alleluia anelli Veneris, of the ring of Venus, ut non dicas so that thou hast no need to say Nubium cursus Let the ways of the clouds, de nobis miseris, about us wretches, Ventorum volatus the flying of the winds, “ab hiis uror.” “I am afflicted by them.” Fulgurum coruscatio the flashing of the lightning, Dulce consonent simul Alleluia sound all together their sweet Alleluia 14. O Jesu, Nomen Dulce, Jonathan Harvey Fluctus et undae Let floods and waves, O Jesu, nomen dulce, nomen admirabile, nomen confortans, O Jesus, sweet name, wonderful name, invigorating name, Imber et procellae Rain and storms, quid enim canitur suavius? what indeed is more delightful to sing, Tempestas, serenitas, Tempest and calm, quid auditur jucundius? what is more pleasing to hear, Cauma, gelu, nix, Heat, ice, snow, quid cogitatur dulcius? what is sweeter to consider, Saltus, nemora pangant Alleluia Forests and glades chant Alleluia quam Jesus, Dei filius. than Jesus, the son of God? O nomen Jesu, verus animae cibus, in ore mel, in aure melos, O name of Jesus, true food of the soul, honey in the mouth, Istinc montium There let the high mountain peaks sound Alleluia in corde laetitia mea music in the ear, joy in my heart: Celsi vertices sonent And there, let the deepest valleys sound Alleluia Tuum itaque nomen, dulcissime Jesu, so, sweetest Jesus, Illinc vallium In aeternum in ore meo portabo. thy name shall I bear for ever in my mouth. Profunditates saltent Alleluia

- 16 - - 9 - CTP Template: CD_DPS1 COLOURS Compact Disc Booklet: Double Page Spread CYAN MAGENTA Customer SIGNUMCLASSICS YELLOW Catalogue No. SIGCD070 BLACK Job Title SIGCD070 Booklet Page Nos.

Tu quoque maris You too, joyful depth of the sea, say O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world; Jubilans abysse dic Alleluia have mercy upon us; Alleluia O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world; Nec non terrarum And the great masses of the earth: have mercy upon us; Molis immensitates: Alleluia Alleluia O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world; Grant us thy peace. Nunc omne genus Now let the whole human race exult, and, Humanum laudans exsultet repeatedly giving thanks to the creator, Et creatori sound forth Alleluia 13. Stella maris illustrans omnia, Caius MS 334 Grates frequentans consonent Consonent frequentans Stella maris Star of the sea, Alleluia illustrans omnia illuminating all things, signis claris show us with clear signs, Hoc denique nomen audire For he delights to hear this name perpetually ostende previa as our guide, Jugiter delectatur Alleluia quo tendamus. which way we should go. Alleluia De fundente Let us rejoice Hoc etiam carmen caeleste Even Christ himself approves of that celestial song fluento venie, in the flowing stream Comprobat ipse Christus Alleluia de torrente of forgiveness, Alleluia Joyfully singing misericordie in the torrent Cantate laetantes Alleluia gaudeamus. of mercy. Alleluia You too, you children, Et vos pueruli Answer always Fer non frustra Bear not in vain Respondete semper Alleluia stelle vocabulum, the designation “star”, Alleluia cor illustra, illumine the heart, clarum fac oculum make bright Nunc omnes canite simul Now, all sing together nostri cordis. our heart’s eye, Alleluia Domino Alleluia to the Lord Alleluia Christo Alleluia to the Christ Ut versutus so that every cunning man Laus Trinitati Praise to the Trinity quisque se retrahat may turn back Alleluia Alleluia et ablutus and, cleansed, ultra no contrahat no longer engage in quicquam sordis. any sort of meanness.

- 10 - - 15 - CTP Template: CD_DPS1 COLOURS Compact Disc Booklet: Double Page Spread CYAN MAGENTA Customer SIGNUMCLASSICS YELLOW Catalogue No. SIGCD070 BLACK Job Title SIGCD070 Booklet Page Nos.

9. Alma Redemptoris Mater, Bayan Northcott 2. Kyrie eleison, Winchester Troper

Alma Redemptoris Mater Kind mother of the Redeemer, Kyrie eleison Lord have mercy upon us Quae pervia celi porta manes, who remains the open door to heaven and star of the sea, Christe eleison Christ have mercy upon us et stella maris succurre cadenti help thy falling people, Kyrie eleison Lord have mercy upon us surgere qui curat populo: who strive to rise: Tu quae genuisti, Thou who brought forth thy holy Son, 3. Sint lumbi, James Weeks natura mirante, to Nature’s astonishment, tuum sanctum Genitorem: a Virgin before and after, Sint lumbi vestri precincti et lucerne ardentes in manibus vestris Let your loins be girded about and your lights burning, and ye Virgo prius ac posterius receiving that ‘Hail’ from Gabriel’s lips, et vos similes hominibus expectantibus dominum suum quando yourselves like unto them that wait for the Lord, when he will return Gabrielis abore sumens illud have mercy upon sinners. revertatur a nuptiis. (Luke 12) from the wedding. Ave peccatorum miserere. V. Vigilate ergo quia nescitis qua hora dominus noster venturus sit. Watch therefore: for ye know not at what hour our Lord will come. (Matthew 24) Aurei nominis Maria Golden-named Mary, mater misericordie mother of mercy, the gate of paradise, 4. Vir Perfecte, St Andrews MS (W1) paradisi porta, the special refuge of sinners, peccatorum refugium speciale, O good, O beautiful, Vir perfecte pietatis O man of perfect piety and lord of integrity, O bona O pulchra O unequalled, et dux innocentie hear the festive prayers of thy people as they celebrate, O singularis post Deum spes nostra our hope after God, vota plebis tua festa and by thy prayers join thy servants who assist in the service of thy Maria tu illa magna Mary—thou, celebrantis suscipe praise to the company of saints. Maria nos Deo filio tuo reconcilia. that great Mary—reconcile us with God thy Son. Et astantes laudis tue servulos officio Speciosa facta es et suavis Thou art become beautiful and sweet in the delights of Virginity, precibus tuis adiunge in deliciis Virginitatis holy mother of God, sanctorum collegio sancta Dei genetrix quam videntes filie Sion whom the daughters of Sion saw blossoming amongst the flowers vernantem in floribus of the roses and the lilies of the valleys, Imitator Jesu Christi Andrew, who imitated Jesus Christ rosarum et liliis conualium beatissimam and called the most blessed, sub crucis patibulo under the yoke of the cross, predicaverunt et regine laudaverunt eam. and whom queens praised. nos Andrea fac consortes make us partakers of the fellowship of heaven. celi contubernio 11-12. Sanctus & Agnus Dei: Missa Canonica, Robin Holloway Holy, Holy, Holy, Gloria patri et filio Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, Lord God of hosts. et spiritui sancto and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, Heaven and earth are full of thy glory: sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper. is now, and ever shall be. glory be to thee O Lord most high.

Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

- 14 - - 11 - CTP Template: CD_DPS1 COLOURS Compact Disc Booklet: Double Page Spread CYAN MAGENTA Customer SIGNUMCLASSICS YELLOW Catalogue No. SIGCD070 BLACK Job Title SIGCD070 Booklet Page Nos.

5. Salve Regina, Bayan Northcott porta fit ecclesie eternal pathways; it becomes the stabilis sua serie. door of the church, firm in its order. Salve Regina, mater misericordiae: Hail, Queen, mother of mercy, vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve. Hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. 7. Stabant autem iuxta crucem, Michael Finnissy Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Hevae. To thee we cry, banished children of Eve; Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. To thee we sigh, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Stabant autem iuxta crucem Iesu mater eius, Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, Come then, our advocate, et soror matris eius, Maria Cleophae, et Maria Magdalene. sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. turn thine eyes of mercy towards us. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui nobis post hoc And after this exile, show us Jesus, Cum vidisset ergo Iesus matrem, When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, exsilium ostende. the blessed fruit of your womb. et discipulum stantem, quem diligebat, dicit matri suae: whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! O clemens: O pia: O dulcis Virgo Maria. O mild, O pious, O sweet Virgin Mary Mulier, ecce filius tuus. Then saith he to the disciple, 6. Gemma nitens, Caius MS 512 Deinde dicit discipulo: Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto Gemma nitens, sole splendidior clariorque die O shining jewel, more brilliant Ecce mater tua. his own home. sub regis imperio cunctipotencie, than the sun, brighter than the omnium precellentissima gracia, day, under the dominion of Et ex illa hora accepit eam discipulus in sua. (John 19) imperatrix in celi curia, the almighty king, O thou who in astes nobis peccantibus, the heavenly court hast sway over 8. Quam pulchra es, John Dunstable vena perennis venie, all by dint of thy all-surpassing succurre nobis omnibus grace: help us sinners, Quam pulchra es et quam decora, How beautiful art thou, and how comely, my dearest, in delights! vultu memorie, thou unceasing river of forgiveness, carissima in deliciis. Thy stature is like to a palm-tree, and thy breasts to clusters of pia mater leticie, with the face of remembrance, Statura tua assimilata est palme, grapes. Thy head is like Carmel, and thy neck as a tower of ivory. imple penitentem, kind mother of gladness, fill the et ubera tua botris. ad te convertentem penitent who turns to thee mentis solamine, with solace for his soul, Caput tuum ut Carmelus, Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field, let us see if the et conserva gregem, and by offering thy prayer, collum tuum sicut turris eburnea. flowers be ready to bring forth fruits, if the pomegranates flourish: genitrix, apud regem O mother, preserve the flock Veni, dilecte mi, there will I give thee my breasts. dato precamine; before the king; egrediamur in agrum, virgo nuncio Gabriele plena gracia, o virgin et videamus si flores fructus parturierunt, esto cunctis reis salus victoria; full of grace through Gabriel si floruerunt mala Punica. nato prole veritas the messenger, be salvation Ibi dabo tibi ubera mea. patet quod virginitas and victory for all sinners; Alleluia. (Canticles 7) manet pura castitas with the birth of the child the truth is revealed— per eternas semitas that virginity remains pure chastity, shining fulgens ut sol iusticie; like the sun of justice upon the

- 12 - - 13 -