Britten (in his
Five Flower Songs, or
A Ceremony of Carols) informs Mathias’s spirited carol
A Babe is Born Op 55 (1971). However, the ‘thrown’ rhythms are neither Britten nor Tippett, but unmistakably Mathias; they come closer to the Continent—to Flor Peeters, or Frank Martin, contemporary composers with an allegiance to their respective medieval traditions, while maintaining largely traditional tonality.
from notes by Roderic Dunnett © 2009
