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Laudibus!
Welcome to ‘Laudibus!’, a programme celebrating the richness and expressive power of choral music across centuries and countries. Performed by Index Cantorum, a chamber choir from Winchester, UK, this concert marks our first visit to Valencia, presenting a musical journey inspired by the historic and cultural connections between England and Spain—links that date back to the 1554 marriage of Philip II of Spain and Mary Tudor of England. Alongside works by English and Spanish masters, the programme showcases the beauty and versatility of unaccompanied singing, from Renaissance polyphony to contemporary choral pieces. We are delighted as well to welcome some guest singers from Valencia. We hope that you enjoy our concert.
Thomas Tallis (c1505 – 1585) was employed at Waltham Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral and the Chapel Royal. The religious turblulence of Tudor England at the time meant that Tallis served under several monarchs, from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I, adapting his compositions between catholic Latin and protestant English texts and purposes. O Nata Lux is a setting of the office hymn for the Feast of the Transfiguration, published in 1575 in Cantiones sacrae, a joint publication with his pupil William Byrd.
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Robert Parsons ( d1530 – 1572) was appointed a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1563, who came to an untimely end, drowning in the River Trent at Newark. The particular text of O bone Jesu was unusual in England; other settings existed in Europe, and it is possible that knowledge of these from the Capilla Real of Phillip II, to whom Mary Tudor was Queen Mary’s husband, might have influenced Parsons’ setting. The words are from a group of different psalm verses, interleaved with “O” acclamations in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek, and were known as “St. Bernard’s Verses”. Parsons’ setting is full of contrasts, between the lively settings of the psalm words and the slow and reflective “O” introductions to each verse.​​
O nata lux de lumine,
Jesu redemptor saeculi,
Dignare clemens supplicum
Laudes precesque sumere.
Qui carne quondam contegi
Dignatus es pro perditis,
Nos membra confer effici
Tui beati corporis.
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O Light from Light,
Jesus, redeemer of the world,
with loving-kindness deign to receive
suppliant praise and prayer.
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Thou who once deigned to be clothed
in flesh for the sake of the lost,
grant us to be members of thy blessed body.
O bone Jesu.
Illumina oculos meos, ne umquam obdormiam in morte: nequando dicat inimicus: Praevalui adversus eum.
O good Jesus.
Give light to my eyes, that I never fall asleep in death: lest the enemy say: 'I have prevailed over him.’ Ps 12 v4
O Adonai.
In manus tuas Domine commendo spiritum meum: redemisti me, Domine Deus veritatis.
O Supreme Being.
In your hands O Lord I commend my spirit: you have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. Ps 30 v6
O Messias.
Locutus sum in lingua mea: Notum fac mihi finem meum.
O Anointed Deliverer.
I have said with my tongue: ‘Let me know my end’.
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O Agios:
Et numerum dierum meorum quis est: ut sciam quid desit mihi.
O Holy One;
'and the number of my days: that I may know what is wanting in me'. Ps 38 vv5,6
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O Heloi.
Dirupisti, Domine, vincula mea: tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis, et nomen Domini invocabo.
O Lord.
You, Lord, have broken my chains: I will offer you a sacrifice of praise, and invoke the name of the Lord. Ps 115 v7
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O Emmanuel.
Perlit fuga a me, et non est qui requirat animam meam.
O God with us.
I cannot flee. and nobody cares about my soul.
O Christe.
Clamavi ad te Domine, dixi: Tu es spes mea, portio mea in terra viventium.
O Christ.
I have cried to you O Lord, saying: ‘You are my hope, my share in the land of the living.’
Ps141 vv6,7
O rex noster.
Fac mecum signum in bonum, ut videanti qui oderunt me, et confundantur:
quoniam tu Domine adiuvisti me et consolatus es me.
Our King!
Make me a standard for good, so that those who hate me may see it and be overthrown:
because you Lord have helped and consoled me. Ps85 v16
O Rabbi.
Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui Domine: dedisti laetitiam in corde meo
Amen
O Teacher
The light of your face has shone upon us, O Lord: you have given joy to my heart. Ps 4 v7
Amen
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Robert White (c1538 – 1574) worked in Cambridge and Ely, remaining there until 1566. Records show him then moving to Chester, then London, as Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey, in 1570. He died of the plague in 1574. His most well-known works are two sets of Lamentations, a Magnificat, hymn and psalm settings, and numerous instrumental pieces which served as models for later composers such as Byrd. Regina coeli is a setting of the plainsong Easter antiphon. The plainsong melody is picked out in long notes the second lowest part.
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Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548 – 1611) was one of the most renowned composers of the Renaissance, celebrated for his masterful sacred music. Victoria spent a significant part of his career in Rome, and was deeply influenced by the Italian polyphonic style of Palestrina, yet he infused his works with an unmistakable Spanish fervour. Victoria was an ordained priest, and he only wrote sacred music. The Regina coeli uses the same plainsong melody as the White, in fragments passed between two equal choirs. A dance-like Alleluia in triple-metre adds to the sense of festivity. His Ave Maria, also a double-choir setting, demonstrates Victoria’s writing at its most devotional, combining moments of grandeur and intimacy.
Regina cæli, lætare, alleluia;
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia;
Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia;
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
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Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia;
For he whom you were worthy to bear, alleluia;
He has risen as he said, alleluia;
Pray for us to God, alleluia.
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Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum;
benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Sancta Maria, Regina coeli,
dulcis et pia, o Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
ut cum electis te videamus.
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Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
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Holy Mary, Queen of heaven
sweet and merciful, O Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
that with the elect we may gaze upon thee.
Charles Villiers Stanford (1852 – 1924) was a central figure in the revival of British music and a long-standing professor at both Cambridge and the Royal College of Music in London. Beati quorum via forms part of his Three Latin Motets, written for and dedicated to the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge. The motet sets a paraphrase of Psalm 119 and has flowing lines and gentle imitative writing, that makes it one of the most popular works in the Anglican choral repertoire.
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Loch Lomond is one of Scotland’s most famous folk songs, steeped in themes of love, separation, and loss. The imagery of the “high road” and “low road”, and “never meeting you” is commonly interpreted as symbolising life and death, or exile following the Jacobite uprisings, where the Catholica rebellion of 1745/6 was finally defeated. Tonight’s choral arrangement pays homage to arrangers and performers through the centuries, incorporating a few other well-known Scottish melodies within the harmony. It is written in a Scottish dialect (bonnie = beautiful, loch = lake).
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Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor, Eric Whitacre (b 1970) is among today’s most popular American musicians. A graduate of The Juilliard School, his works are performed worldwide, and his ground-breaking Virtual Choirs have united well over 100,000 singers from more than 145 countries. Eric has been Artist in Residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and currently holds the position of Visiting Composer at Pembroke College, Cambridge, UK. Sleep (2000) was originally composed as a setting of a poem by Robert Frost, but permission to use the text was denied, forcing Whitacre to replace it with new words by Charles Anthony Silvestri. The poem depicts the act of falling asleep, with dreams, restlessness, imagined terrors, gradually surrendering to sleep.
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Beati quorum via integra est,
qui ambulant in lege Domini.
Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
Loch Lomond Traditional Scottish
By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond,
Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.
O ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road,
And I'll be in Scotland a'fore ye,
But me and my true love will never meet again,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.
'Twas there that we parted, in yon shady glen,
On the steep, steep side o' Ben Lomond,
Where purple hue, the Highland hills we view,And the moon coming out in the gloaming.
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The wee birdies sing and the wild flowers spring,
And in sunshine the waters are sleeping.
But the broken heart it kens nae second spring again,
Though the waeful may cease frae their greetin’.
Sleep (Charles Anthony Silvestri, b.1965)
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The evening hangs beneath the moon,
A silver thread on darkened dune.
With closing eyes and resting head
I know that sleep is coming soon.
Upon my pillow, safe in bed,
A thousand pictures fill my head.
I cannot sleep, my mind’s a-flight;
And yet my limbs seem made of lead.
If there are noises in the night,
A frightening shadow, flickering light,
Then I surrender unto sleep,
Where clouds of dream give second sight,
What dreams may come, both dark and deep,
Of flying wings and soaring leap
As I surrender unto sleep,
As I surrender unto sleep.
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William Byrd (1543 - 1623) was a pupil of Thomas Tallis; he became organist and choir master at Lincoln Cathedral where he perfected an English keyboard style and wrote both English and Latin church music. He moved to the Chapel Royal in 1570. Despite his devotion to his catholic faith in protestant England, Byrd retained royal favour and even was granted a monopoly on music printing with Tallis. Laudibus in sanctis is a vibrant motet that paraphrases Psalm 150, celebrating music, instruments, and worship with energetic rhythms and vivid word painting.
Francisco Guerrero (1528 – 1599) was a prominent Spanish Renaissance composer known for his deeply expressive music, much of it written during his long service at Seville Cathedral. He was one of Spain’s most widely travelled and popular composers, admired for the warmth and accessibility of his music. Laudate Dominum draws on texts from both Psalm 148 and 150, and is joyful and direct, with clear word-painting in its depiction of musical instruments.
Laudibus in sanctis Dominum celebrate supremum:
Firmamenta sonent inclita facta Dei.
Inclita facta Dei cantate, sacraque potentis
Voce potestatem saepe sonate manus.
Magnificum Domini cantet tuba martia nomen:
Pieria Domino concelebrate lira.
Laude Dei resonent resonantia tympana summi:
Alta sacri resonent organa laude Dei.
Hunc arguta canant tenui psalteria corda,
Hunc agili laudet laeta chorea pede.
Concava divinas effundant cymbala laudes,
Cymbala dulcisona laude repleta Dei.
Omne quod aethereis in mundo vescitur auris
Halleluia canat tempus in omne Deo.
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Praise the Lord among His holy ones; praise the Lord in the highest heavens, declare the glorious works of the Lord Almighty.
Tell of His works in singing. The power of His greatness sound in the holy anthems. Tell out in song His wonders.
The majesty of His name sound with trumpet’s martial clamour. With poetry crowd His festal courts to tell His praises.
Laud and honour beat of the drum resound to Him.
Lofty organs, pealing through long-drawn aisles, praise the Lord God.
Praise him, sharp-toned strings of psalteries sing in sweetest accordance. And lustily dancing let the festal rout give praise.
Resonant with hollow applaudings strike the loud timbrels,
or in soft murmuring sounds praise Him,
To him be glory! Let the creation adore Him, worship and praise Him, Halleluia singing, unto the Lord for ever.
(Paraphrase E H Fellowes, 1937)
INDEX CANTORUM for Valencia is
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Jane McClelland, Judy Naylor, Polly Smith, Jenny Tribe,
Natalia Fetherston-Dilke, Abi King, Isobel King
Moni De Quesada†, Jenny Tomiainen†, Lolin qqqqq†
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Mhairi Ellis, Sandy Hardacre, Christine Lewry, Sue Ramsey,
Karen Williams, Carla San Martin†
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Paco Alarcon, Simon Lillystone, Eugenio Peiro†, Pepe Sanchis†, Anna Westrop
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JJ Barnes, John Lunt, Graham King, Richard Steedman, Jonathan Tribe, Vicent qqqqq†
† = Guest singers, Coro yyyy
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Director: Mark Williams