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Visita quaesumus, Domine is one of the exquisite miniatures of the 1605 Gradualia. The text seems to be a variant on a prayer from Compline and its scoring for two sopranos, an alto and a tenor is unusual but not without precedent. Byrd had experimented with similar forces as a young man in his contribution to the lengthy Psalm-setting In exitu Israel with his friend William Mundy and his mentor John Sheppard and later in the ripely Italian-sounding Salve sola Dei genetrix.

from notes by Andrew Carwood © 2010