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Track(s) taken from CDA67779

Timete Dominum – Venite ad me

composer
5vv; Gradualia 1605 I:xxx
author of text
Gradual & Alleluia at Mass on The Feast of All Saints; Psalm 33 (34): 10-11; Matthew 11: 28

The Cardinall's Musick, Andrew Carwood (conductor)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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Recording details: April 2009
Fitzalan Chapel, Arundel Castle, United Kingdom
Produced by Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
Engineered by Martin Haskell & Iestyn Rees
Release date: February 2010
Total duration: 4 minutes 33 seconds

Cover artwork: The Suffering of the Saints: St Paul on the Road to Damascus, from the Heures d'Etienne Chevalier (c1445). Jean Fouquet (c1420-1480)
Musée Condé, Chantilly, France / Giraudon / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘Hyperion has done Byrd proud … it's a mixture also of the celebratory, as though the singers were congratulating themselves on a job well done—as well they might—and the pentitential, concluding with the full ensemble in a finely judged and quite extrovert Infelix ego, surely one of Byrd's most memorable motets … the commitment of singers and label alike is a cause for gratitude, perhaps even optimism. Congratulations to all concerned’ (Gramophone)

‘The Cardinall's Musick pays tribute to the whole landscape of Byrd's genius with a passion that ends the project on a high. As with the earlier instalments, Andrew Carwood's direction and programming are equally inspired … the centrepiece is the searing Infelix ego; here, the recusant Byrd explores a martyr's preparation for death, taking the listener through every emotional extreme before transcending the built-up tension in a glorious coda. The musical imagination of The Cardinall's Musick does full justice to that of Byrd. Unique about this ensemble is its expressiveness, whether members sing seamlessly as one or tug at each other's lines. The group's delivery is a sensual delight’ (BBC Music Magazine)
The set of Propers for The Feast of Saints (Gradualia, 1605) with its two equal soprano parts has a luminous quality and is the most joyous and witty set that Byrd produced. The vigorous Introit (Gaudeamus omnes) gives way to a more meditative setting of the Gradual (Timete Dominum) and Alleluia (Venite ad me) where Byrd indulges his love of musical games at the words ‘Come to me, all you who labour’. The ‘labour’ is complex but the style rather light and filigree and it is hard not to have in mind the companion text ‘his yoke is easy and his burden is light’. The words which follow, ‘and I will refresh you’, feel rather like an intellectual musical work-out, complex but satisfying. The Offertory Iustorum animae is a serene reminder that those who have died lie in the peace of God. Beati mundo corde, the Communion sentence, is a setting of some words from the Beatitudes. Byrd starts with just three voices for the first phrase, before moving to four voices and then five in a completely satisfying setting of a text which must have spoken clearly to the Catholic community.

from notes by Andrew Carwood © 2010

Le corpus des Propres de la Toussaint (Gradualia, 1605), avec ses deux parties de soprano égales, est lumineux et constitue l’ensemble le plus joyeux, le plus verveux jamais produit par Byrd. Le vigoureux introït (Gaudeamus omnes) cède la place à un graduel davantage méditatif (Timete Dominum) et à un Alléluia (Venite ad me), où Byrd se laisse aller à son amour des jeux musicaux aux mots «Venez à moi, vous tous qui travaillez». Malgré un style léger et filigrané, ce «travaillez» est complexe et il est difficile de ne pas songer au texte qui lui fait pendant, «son joug est doux et son fardeau léger». Les paroles suivantes, «et je vous donnerai du repos», ont des allures d’exercice intellectuel en musique, complexe mais convaincant. L’offertoire Iustorum animae rappelle avec sérénité que ceux qui sont morts reposent dans la paix de Dieu. Beati mundo corde, la sentence de la communion, exprime en musique quelques paroles des Béatitudes. Byrd commence avec seulement trois voix (première phrase) avant de passer à quatre puis à cinq dans une mise en musique totalement convaincante d’un texte que la communauté catholique devait trouver éloquent.

extrait des notes rédigées par Andrew Carwood © 2010
Français: Hypérion

Die Propriumsvertonungen für Allerheiligen (Gradualia, 1605) haben zwei gleichartige Sopranstimmen, was für besonderen Glanz sorgt, und zudem ist dies der fröhlichste und geistreichste Zyklus, den Byrd komponierte. Der lebhafte Introitus (Gaudeamus omnes) geht in eine meditativere Vertonung des Graduale (Timete Dominum) und Alleluia (Venite ad me) über, wo Byrd bei den Worten „Kommet her zu mir alle, die ihr mühselig und beladen seid“ seiner Vorliebe für musikalische Spiele frönt. Die „Mühe“ ist komplex, doch der Stil ist recht leicht und feingliedrig und man denkt fast automatisch an das Pendant „Sein Joch ist sanft und seine Last ist leicht“. Die Worte, die dann folgen, „ich will euch erquicken“, sind wie eine Art musikalisch-intellektuelles Konditionstraining, komplex aber befriedigend. Das Offertorium, Iustorum animae, erinnert in ruhiger Weise daran, dass diejenigen, die gestorben sind, im Frieden Gottes liegen. Beati mundo corde, der Kommunionssatz, ist eine Vertonung einiger Worte der Seligpreisungen. Byrd beginnt in der ersten Phrase mit nur drei Stimmen, bevor er in vier und schließlich fünf übergeht und den Text, der die katholische Gemeinschaft deutlich angesprochen haben muss, besonders passend vertont.

aus dem Begleittext von Andrew Carwood © 2010
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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