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Pilgrim's Progress
The Codex Calixtinus is a 12th century manuscript that is of important historical significance, giving details of how pilgrimages to Sant’Iago de Compostela were conducted at that time. There are five books, giving accounts of the moving of the body of St James from Jerusalem to Galicia, reports of miracles, instructions for ceremonies, and practical advice on the route for people making the journey. The music items in the book are attributed to Magister Albertus Parisiensis, a French canon and cantor at Notre Dame in Paris. Congaudeant Catholici is often cited by scholars as the earliest known source of notated polyphony.
Tomás Luis de Victoria was one of the most renowned composers of the Spanish 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 tradition, yet he infused his works with an unmistakable Spanish fervour. Victoria was an ordained priest, and his only music is on sacred texts. O lux et decus Hispaniae is a motet that displays his exquisite polyphonic style, dedicated to the Spanish patron saint, St. James.
Congaudeant catholici,
letentur cives celici die ista.
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Clerus pulcris carminibus
studeat atque cantibus die ista.
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Hec est dies laudabilis
divina luce nobilis die ista.
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Qua Iacobus palatia,
ascendit ad celestia die ista.
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Vincens Herodis gladium
accepit vite bravium die ista.
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Ergo carenti termino
benedicamus domino die ista.
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Magno patri familias
solvamus laudis gratias die ista.
Let the whole church rejoice,
Let the heavenly host be glad this day.
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Let the clergy study and sing, with
beautiful songs this day.
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This is a day of praise,
made glorious by divine light this day.
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When James ascended
to the heavenly palace this day.
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Overcoming the sword of Herod,
he received the crown of life this day.
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Therefore without ceasing,
let us bless the Lord this day.
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To the great Father of us all,
let us give thanks with praise this day.
John Taverner (c 1490 – 1545) was appointed the first choirmaster of Thomas Wolsey’s new foundation of Cardinal College, Oxford, in 1525. Wolsey’s eminence at court, coupled with Taverner’s skill, made the composer’s works highly sought after. Following Wolsey’s fall from grace, however, Taverner moved to Lincolnshire, and swiftly changed his allegiance to the new church order of Henry VIII, reputedly becoming one of Thomas Cromwell’s agents in the dissolution of the monasteries. O Swithune, pastor bone is an adaption of a work "O Wilhelme, pastor bone", originally a votive antiphon in honour of William of York who had a shrine at York Minster. It follows a tradition of adaptions, here presented as a piece in honour of St. Swithun, a 9th-century bishop of Winchester.
Thomas Tallis (c 1505 – 1585) was a versatile composer whose career spanned the turbulent religious changes of the 16th century. Tallis served under four English monarchs, from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I, adapting his style to suit the changing religious landscape. His first employment was as organist of Waltham Abbey, but after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540, he was employed at court as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, a post he held until his death. The two settings of Salvator mundi were published in a book of Sacred songs, in 1575. The second of them has a carefully crafted canon, whereby the 4th voice down copies the top voice 4 beats later.
William Byrd (1543 – 1623) was organist of Lincoln Cathedral from 1563 to 1587, and then served as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, sharing with Thomas Tallis the single licence to publish music at that time. In the persecution of the Roman Catholics under Elizabeth, Byrd was suspected and accused of being a recusant, and was frequently harried. He was forced to relinquish his position at the Chapel Royal and suffered heavy annual fines for recusancy, but continued to compose pieces for the official life of the court, whose powerful members spared him the worst of the religious persecutions. Civitas sancti tui is the second half of a work, referring to Jerusalem as wilderness, an allusion to the Catholic faith being in exile during the Tudor era.
Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) is best known for his large-scale symphonies, yet he also wrote around 40 more modest motets for the Catholic church. Ave Maria is one of the most popular; it was first performed in 1861 in Linz cathedral.
The big silences in the piece are specially there to deal with the long echo that is a feature of Linz cathedral.
Civitas sancti tui facta est deserta.
Sion deserta facta est,
Jerusalem desolata est.
Your holy city has become a wilderness.
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem has been made desolate.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum; benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Holy Mary, pray for us. Amen.
Cristóbal de Morales (c1500 – 1533) was born in Seville, and is connected with posts in Ávila, Plasencia and Toledo, along with spending a decade in Rome as a singer in the papal choir. Morales’ reputation is one of a difficult employee, changing posts often, and making tough demands of his singers, evidenced at times in his relentless contrapuntal writing. Tu es Petrus is based on the plainsong antiphon, the opening words sung as a clarion call repeatedly in the 2nd soprano part.
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Maurice Duruflé (1902 – 1986), a French composer and organist, is celebrated for his small but significant output of choral and organ music. Duruflé was known for his perfectionism, often revising his compositions extensively before deeming them complete. His setting of Tu es Petrus is one of a set of four motets based on Gregorian chants, and is a vibrant, rhythmic setting of the traditional chant, in modern harmonic language.
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Robert Lucas Pearsall (1795 – 1856) was born in Bristol and initially worked there as a barrister before moving to Mainz and then to Switzerland, studying composition and early music. His occasional returns to Bristol also coincided with the foundation and earliest meetings of the Bristol Madrigal Society, for which he wrote many of his madrigals and part-songs. The success of his earliest works for the Society encouraged him to write others, often in many voices, including 'Sir Patrick Spens' (in ten parts), and eight-part settings of 'Great God of Love' and 'Lay a Garland'. His setting of Tu es Petrus is a reworking of Lay a Garland, with some alterations in notes and effect to suit the text. It was written during the time Pearsall was living at Wartensee Castle in Switzerland, and he dedicated it to bishop of St Gallen for use there.
Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam. Et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum.
You are Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my church,. and the gates of hell shall not overcome it. And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Charles Villiers Stanford (1852 – 1924) was born in Dublin. He went to Cambridge in 1870 studying Classics, yet most of his focus was on music, becoming a leading figure in Cambridge University Musical Society. After graduation he studied composition at the Leipzig Conservatory, and by the turn of the century he had returned to Cambridge, followed by London. Stanford’s church music has always remained popular, with an easy-sounding melodious line always prominent. Beati quorum via is one of three Latin motets written for Trinity College, Cambridge. The text is from psalm 119.
Bob Chilcott (b 1955) is a contemporary British composer and conductor, renowned for his accessible and engaging choral music. Bob Chilcott has enjoyed a lifelong association with choral music, as a chorister and choral scholar in the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, and as a member of the King’s Singers. He became a full-time composer and conductor in 1997, and has composed a large catalogue of choral music which is published by Oxford University Press. His most often performed pieces include Can you hear me?, A Little Jazz Mass, Requiem, and the St John Passion. Runner is a setting of a short poem by Walt Whitman. It is an early work, that exemplifies Chilcott's ability to write music that is both challenging and enjoyable for choirs.
Beati quorum via integra est,
qui ambulant in lege Domini.
Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way; who walk in the law of the Lord.
INDEX CANTORUM for today is
Abi King, Ruth Shannon, Jenny Tribe, Emily Woodcock,
Erin Brookes, Nathalia Fetherston-Dilke, Isobel King, Carla Sanmartin
Christine Lewry, Sue Ramsey, Julie Mutton,
Naomi Neville, Leigh Warren-Thomas, Anna Westrop
Paco Alacon, Paul Shepherd, Peter Fellows
John Lunt, Benedict Roose, Stephen Delaney, Graham King, Jonathan Tribe
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Director: Mark Williams