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The Sanctus and Benedictus are clearly influenced by the short Masses of the English Renaissance. These two functional movements contain mostly homophonic writing, small vocal ranges, and strictly four-voice writing with the exception of a gimell-like flowering at the final cadence. The Anglican choral tradition is perpetuated by references to the modal harmonies of the Second English Renaissance. Added-note harmony and gently dissonant melodic arches take this style further along a path that leads to a compositional practice which might aptly be described as that of the Third English Renaissance.

from notes by Jeremy Summerly © 2008