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Track(s) taken from SIGCD134

Christe, qui lux es et dies I

composer
Robert White (c1538-November 1574)
author of text
Anonymous - liturgical
Office Hymn at Compline

Gallicantus, Gabriel Crouch (conductor)
Recording details: August 2008
All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by Andrew Mellor
Release date: November 2009
Total duration: 3 minutes 58 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

The Gesualdo Six, Owain Park (director)
Clare College Choir Cambridge, Timothy Brown (conductor)
The Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)
Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (conductor)

Reviews

'The sensible admirer of White’s music will acquire all three recordings … sung entirely by male voices and never once is there a loss of clarity, a hint of muddiness' (Gramophone)

'What better respite from the secular pressures of Christmas shopping than these sublime sacred sounds from the late sixteenth century. White's Lamentations are not as famous as Tallis's, but their plangent harmonies and clashing lines have an equal intensity. This impressive debut disc by Gallicantus (an all-male group from the Tenebrae choir) includes White's motets and hymns, emphasising his response to the texts and his eloquent way with the single Hebrew letters that begin each Lamentation. The vocal balance is slightly bass-heavy, but the sound is beautifully recorded' (The Observer)

'While Gallicantus was formed only two years ago, its members own a collective experience of ensemble singing measurable in long decades. Their artistry shines through in this debut disc, so much so that it's tempting to award five stars as a matter of reviewing course. I've resisted simply because the fine detail in Robert White's polyphony, especially in his multi-textured psalm settings Exaudiat te, Dominus and Manus tuae fecerunt me, is occasionally muddied by the reverberant acoustic of All Hallows, Gospel Oak. Fans of majestic Tudor sacred music, however, should immediately add this to their list of albums most wanted' (Classic FM Magazine)

Robert White (whose short but successful career took him to Trinity College, Cambridge, Ely Cathedral and Westminster Abbey) composed four settings of the Lenten Compline hymn Christe, qui lux es et dies, all based on the traditional chant melody. This, his first, is an understated exercise in textural contrast, alternating single-voice chant with a five-voice chordal texture. Subtle changes in harmony gently colour each verse of the text, but the voices remain homophonic throughout, with only one instance of a voice moving separately from the rest—in the middle polyphonic verse, at the end of the important phrase ‘Cor ad te semper vigilet’ (‘Keep our hearts forever awake to you’).

from notes by Owain Park © 2018

Other albums featuring this work

A Song of Farewell
Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (conductor)
Studio Master: SIGCD281Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
English Motets
The Gesualdo Six, Owain Park (director)
Studio Master: CDA68256Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Illumina
Clare College Choir Cambridge, Timothy Brown (conductor)
COLCD125Download only
Vigilate!
The Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)
Studio Master: SDG720Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available

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