Hyperion Records

Afflicti pro peccatis nostris refers to an older world, using a plainsong cantus firmus throughout, first in the baritone part then moving to the tenor part in the second section. This text would have been used as a Respond during Lent according to the Sarum Rite (the old rite in force throughout most of England before the Reformation) and it is interesting that Byrd has provided cadences in the right places to allow the insertion of plainsong verses.

from notes by Andrew Carwood © 2010