England’s Nightingale: William Byrd - Stile Antico
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,153
    Tuesday, Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m. at the Landmark Center, St Paul, MN.
    Presented by the Schubert Club.
    I'll be attending this once-in-a-lifetime concert.

    Stile Antico marks 400 years since the death of William Byrd by exploring the many faces of this extraordinary composer, amongst the greatest that England has ever produced. This programme weaves together the strands of Byrd’s complex life as both pillar of the Protestant musical establishment and faithful servant to the underground Catholic community. The audience encounters Byrd working loyally at the Chapel Royal, thrills to his anguished musical entreaties in support of his fellow Catholics, and savours the gentler music of his latter years.

    Programme:

    William Byrd: Emendemus in Melius

    ‘A good egg’ – Byrd, the loyal subject

    Byrd: O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth
    Byrd: Sing joyfully
    Byrd: Nunc Dimittis from The Great Service

    ‘The caged bird’ – Byrd, the Catholic at court

    Byrd: Vide Domine afflictionem
    Byrd: Haec dies quam fecit Dominum
    Byrd: Ne irascaris, Domine

    ‘A country nest’ – Byrd, the Essex Gentleman

    Byrd: Retire my soul
    Byrd: Ave verum corpus
    Byrd: Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes
    Byrd: Optimam partem elegit
    Byrd: Factus est repente
    Byrd: Agnus Dei from Mass for Four Voices

    ‘Under his wing’ – Byrd, the “much reverenced master”

    Thomas Morley: Domine Dominus noster
    Peter Philips: Ecce vicit Leo
    Thomas Tomkins: Too much I once lamented

    Byrd: Laudibus in sanctis


    If you can experience this phenomenal 12-voice ensemble paying tribute to Byrd, you will find it unforgettable and extremely gratifying.
    Hope to see some of you there!!
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,153
    Stile Antico - Byrd: Mass for Four Voices - V. Agnus Dei
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEoktElPm5c

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  • CHG-
    now we need the review!!
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,153
    The concert by Stile Antico ... "Willam Byrd: England's Nightingale" ... was indeed a once in a lifetime transformative experience. The cohesive ensemble and sensitivity both to Byrd's music and the texts were exemplary. The breadth and depth of Byrd's musical genius throughout his long life shone radiantly in this performance. Stile Antico has earned its reputation as the world's preeminent interpreter and performance of early choral music. Personally, I was moved to tears of mixed sadness and unspeakable joy by their singing.

    Here, also, are some excerpts from Rob Hubbard's review in the Star Tribune:

    Review: A cappella ensemble Stile Antico performs a lush and spine-tingling concert in St. Paul

    [Byrd's music] was bursting with beauty, a point repeatedly underlined Tuesday night at St. Paul's Landmark Center by Stile Antico, a much-decorated a cappella English ensemble of a dozen singers ... the performance offered ample evidence of why Stile Antico is the world's most celebrated early music ensemble.

    Made up of six women and six men, the group is unusual in that ... Stile Antico doesn't employ a conductor, developing its performances and recordings in communal fashion. Hence, its concerts are a showcase for collaborative creation, the singers choreographing cues, nods and eye contact to weave their lush sound.

    And lush it is, as well as spine-tingling, meditative, festive and fascinating ... the rich-voiced dozen displayed an expertise with the repertoire that would be the envy of any ensemble.
    ...
    From the concert's opening strains of "Emendemus in Melius" to a concluding encore by Thomas Weelkes, Stile Antico demonstrated that its cooperative method of shaping the group's sound is a tremendous success. Its vocal blend was invariably well-woven, its widely contrasting dynamics smoothly negotiated.
    ...
    It was a concert full of transporting dreamscapes, among them the lovely "Nunc Dimittis" from Byrd's "Great Service," the tender center of "Vide Domine afflictionem," and a "Ne irascaris, Domine" that surged and receded like an ocean's waves. And lest listeners become too deeply hypnotized by the guided meditation in song that is "Optimam partem elegit," the ensuing "Factus est repente" burst forth with an appropriately fiery tale of Pentecost.
    ...
    If Stile Antico is classical music's chief ambassador for the sound of the Renaissance, the music is clearly in good hands.

    Additional delight was being able to meet and chat with several members of Stile Antico, including Helen and Kate Ashby (identical twins, sopranos)) and sister Emma Ashby (alto) ... who were the founders of Stile Antico ... as well as Ben Hymas (tenor), also James Arthur and Nathan Harrison (basses). It helped that I had performed about half of the Byrd works in my twelve seasons singing with the early music ensemble Zephyrus in Virginia, even sharing with James Arthur the joy of "to be a light to lighten the Gentiles" in the Nunc Dimittis which we both had sung. James and I also talked about each of us having sung the complete "Great Service" ... with him remarking that it is quite an undertaking (it is!).

    They were delighted (and so was I) when I told them of my efforts as president and board chair at the Choral Public Domain Library. Ben Hymas remarked how he uses CPDL regularly, and I believe it was Emma Ashby who said that the CPDL main page appears when she logs in to her computer!

    I also related (and had it verified by Kate Ashby) that in the Stile Antico video recording of the Josquin "Ave Maria ... Virgo serena" the page turns by singers and a couple of faintly visible views of the score they were singing from seemed to be my own edition at CPDL (it was!). They use CPDL scores extensively, and on a post-card with autographs and wishes from several of the singers, two comments stood out: "Thank you for your editions!" and "Long live CPDL!!"

    So now it seems that I have forged a friendship with Stile Antico that surely will endure ... and for that I am truly grateful.