Sample: Tallis – Ave rosa sine (excerpt)
Catalogue #: SRCD1
Year Released: 2011
Record Label: Scribe Records
Artist: The Byrd Ensemble
Director: Markdavin Obenza
Album: Our Lady: Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks
$17
TRACK LIST
William Pasche (fl. early 16th c.) – MAGNIFICAT (15:27) world-premiere recording
John Merbecke (c.1510-1585) – AVE DEI PATRIS FILIA (13:58) world-premiere recording (although there exists another recording of this piece reconstructed by David Skinner)
Nicholas Ludford (c.1485-1557) – SALVE REGINA (16:11) world-premiere recording
Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585) – AVE ROSA SINE SPINIS (10:49)
REVIEWS
“…these four tracks are all immensely impressive,”
Bartlett, Clifford. “Our Lady: Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks The Byrd Ensemble, Markdavin Obenza” Early Music Review December 2011.
“This choir of 11 young singers under the artistic direction of Markdavin Obenza makes a splendid impression here. The sound is rich, full-voiced, and perfectly blended, the sopranos soaring, the lines beautifully sustained, the vowels ringing, and the musica ficta perfectly in tune—in other words, this is a choir at the level of the very best English choirs. (International concert management, take note!) They are making a major contribution to this repertoire, and I can only hope that the practicalities of music-making in the U.S.A. will not prevent them from continuing this work over the long term. To my knowledge, two of the four works included here are previously unrecorded (the lovely Magnificat, which opens the disc, and the Salve Regina), but even if there were no premieres, this collection would be fundamental to any lover of this repertoire. The engineering is first-rate, and the design of the informative booklet attractive.
Tom Moore. “Recording Reviews” Early Music America February 2012.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
The Peterhouse Partbooks, a set of partbooks copied around 1540 belonging to Peterhouse, Cambridge, is one of the most important sources of English Latin church music leading up to the Reformation.
Dr. Nick Sandon has spent a large part of his life reconstructing music from the Peterhouse Partbooks. This album contains music from this beloved collection. Dr. Sandon has meticulously reconstructed the tenor parts in tracks 1-3 and has supplied some of the soprano part in track 4 with precision and artistry in order to provide us a sense of the sound world and the expressive writing of Pasche, Merbecke, Ludford and Tallis in the early 16th century.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
THE BYRD ENSEMBLE, described as “Seattle’s own masters of ancient polyphony” (Seattle Times), is a vocal ensemble specializing in the performance of Renaissance vocal music. The ensemble of eight to ten singers have been performing programs of medieval, renaissance, baroque and modern music in the greater Seattle area since 2003, formerly under the name, “The Renaissance Singers.” The Byrd Ensemble have been presented by the Early Music Guild’s Musician of the Guild and First Tuesdays series, Tudor Choir, Music Northwest and Seattle University. The Byrd Ensemble are Artists-in-Residence at Seattle’s first Episcopal parish,Trinity Parish Church (established 1865), where the group performs regularly throughout the year. The group’s creative efforts are led by Markdavin Obenza.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR MARKDAVIN OBENZA received his Master of Arts in music theory from the University of Washington School of Music in 2007. He performs regularly as a countertenor and baritone with the Tudor Choir (US) and the Byrd Ensemble (US), and has performed with members of the Tallis Scholars (UK) under the direction of Peter Phillips, the Seattle Academy of Baroque Opera (US) under the direction of Steven Stubbs, and the Kronos Quartet. He is the Choirmaster at St. Clement of Rome Episcopal Church in Seattle, WA.
DR. NICK SANDON studied music at Birmingham University, England and then lectured in music at Exeter University, where he took his doctorate. After several years as Professor of Music at University College, Cork, Ireland, he returned to Exeter as Professor of Music and remained there until his retirement. He now lives in France, where he restores incomplete Tudor compositions, studies medieval liturgy and chant, runs the early music publisher Antico Edition, listens to cricket on the Light Programme, and cultivates his garden.