Audivi Vocem

Edtor's Choice Gramophone Magazine October 2008

"If only all history lessons were delivered as beautifully as this one. There is more to these performances than mere beauty and that is anyway such a general word that one often tries to steer clear. But I can't help it - it is overwhelmingly the word that comes to mind when listening to these performances. The Hilliards evoke such gorgeous sonic landscapes, there is such delicate complexity in their tones, that this really is beauty of a rarefied order. Listen and luxuriate."
(Gramophone)

"The ensemble is flawless and the sound reproduction crystalline." BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2008 ***

After the enormous success of their recordings of the Bach Motets the Hilliard Ensemble turn their attention to English renaissance music and specifically works of three 16th century composers Thomas Tallis, Christopher Tye and John Sheppard. All three were masters of polyphony, associated with the Chapel Royal. Their works are alternated and contrasted throughout this composed recital.

"If clarity is a virtue, these people are saints", wrote France's Nouvel Oberservateur about the Hilliard Ensemble when their interpretation of Bach's motets was released in spring 2007. "Never have these shining works sounded more beautiful" commented Die Zeit while the Guardian observed a "supremely musical" rendering, "overflowing with food for thought". Last November the ensemble received a certificate of honour for their artistic achievements by the jury of Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the Prize of German Record Critics.

As commonly known, the Hilliard Ensemble's repertoire ranges from Perotin to Erkki-Sven Tüür, from Guillaume de Machaut to German composer Heiner Goebbels whose new music theatre project, due for first performance in Lausanne this summer, will feature the four singers. British music however marks a relatively small component of their programmes. For the first time after the much-acclaimed Tallis record "The Lamentation of Jeremiah" (ECM New Series 1341) the present production offers an opportunity to listen to performances of music from the precious English a cappella repertoire. Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 - 1585), Christopher Tye (c. 1505 - c. 1575) and John Sheppard (c. 1515 - 1558) were active during a period when Britain swung violently between Catholicism and Protestantism.

While Henry VIII, who broke ties with Rome, remained Catholic in liturgical taste, his successor, Edward VI introduced a puritanical Protestant regime, to considerable effect on church music. Queen Mary, on the other hand, restored a fervent Catholicism, and only when Elizabeth mounted the throne in 1558, a moderately Protestant compromise was reached. Composers thus had to constantly adapt to the liturgical changes, and all three featuring on this CD both profited from the ensuing musical developments and shaped them themselves. In his liner notes David Skinner - he prepared the scores and offered academic advice for this programme - points out: "The Reformation, it transpires, was a very good thing for music: it forced composers to explore a variety of compositional techniques, and, most importantly, how better to set a text. It was these skills, developed, tried and tested by the likes of Tye, Sheppard and Tallis that set the foundation for the next generation of composers." Like on most of the previous Hilliard-albums, the programme is carefully assembled: Tye's "Missa Sine Nomine" serves as the backbone for a suite of responds, antiphones and anthems by the three English composers.