Hyperion Records

O Lord, thou art my God is another anthem to be found in Purcell’s hand in Fitzwilliam MS 88: the composition dates from around 1680-82. At the opening the bass soloist praises God in spacious, noble writing, with a series of grand yet reverential roulades on ‘wonderful’. The two other soloists enter at ‘For thou hast been a strength to the poor’, interrupted by the bass’s warlike ‘And he will destroy in this mountain’. The three voices join for the first time for ‘He will swallow up death in victory’, leading to a hymn-like, homophonic chorus ‘O Lord, thou art my God’. The trio following becomes more animated at ‘We will be glad and rejoice’ and leads into a jaunty series of Alleluias; the final choral section returns to homophony.

from notes by Robert King ©