Description
We are delighted to present our debut album, English Motets (2018). 
About the CD
During the renaissance, musical composition flourished, but it was a time of great change, fuelled by religious division. This programme traces music written by some of the English renaissance masters over a period of two-hundred years, encompassing florid medieval-sounding works by Dunstable and Cornysh, intricately woven polyphonic works by Tallis and Sheppard, and the beautiful simplicity of Tomkins and White.
All of these composers were obliged to write in the musical style of the moment, which was constantly fluctuating in one of the most turbulent periods in English history. Lavish Catholic services required suitably elaborate music, with Latin words and rich sonorities. The Protestants did away with such excess, and as the walls were whitewashed so too was the music, with demands placed on composers to set English words as simply as possible, so that every syllable could be clearly heard by the congregation.
Then, in Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, came a kind of relaxed simplicity, a halfway house, in which the ideal was both that the words could be heard clearly and also that the music should be interesting. The enormous contribution to this period by Thomas Tallis and William Byrd is represented by the inclusion of three works from each composer, showcasing the versatility of their writing.
While all composers in Tudor England were flexible to the period’s shifting religious requirements, none was quite as skillful at reinvention than Tallis, whose musical quality remains absolutely consistent, even while his style changes dramatically. Byrd gave voice to the plight of Catholics in England through many of his compositions, utilising his royal favour to escape punishment for his beliefs, and in doing so wrote some of the most enduring and powerful music of the era.
The presented order is not a linear journey, but a grouping akin to a concert programme, where a balance of fast and slow, similarity and contrast is all brought into play. The incredible productivity of composers writing during this period, coupled with the advent of printed sheet music and licenses granted for its production has resulted in a wealth of material available to us – and, as such, selecting only a handful of works to reside under the banner of ‘The English Motet’ was by no means easy. But I hope that we have managed to showcase something of the extraordinary journey composition took around the English Reformation, and in turn reflect our immense enjoyment in performing the music we all grew up singing.
Track list
Suscipe quæso Domine Thomas Tallis (c.1505 – 1585)
Vigilate William Byrd (c.1540 – 1623)
Loquebantur variis linguis Thomas Tallis
When David heard Thomas Tomkins (1572 – 1656)
If ye love me Thomas Tallis
Libera nos I John Sheppard (c.1515 – 1558)
Christe, qui lux es et dies (I) Robert White (c.1538 – 1574)
O Lord, in thy wrath Orlando Gibbons (1583 – 1625)
Veni Sancte Spiritus John Dunstable (1390 – 1453)
Haec Dies Thomas Morley (1557 – 1603)
Quemadmodum John Taverner (c.1490 – 1545)
Ave Maria Mater Dei William Cornysh (dc.1502)
Deliver me from mine enemies Robert Parsons (1535 – 1572)
Ne irascaris Domine William Byrd
i. Ne irascaris Domine
ii. Civitas sancti tui
Libera nos II John Sheppard
Reviews
Classics Today, David Vernier – 10/10 “I assure you that you’ve never heard [If ye love me] quite like this, the two tenors, baritone, and bass, slow, smooth, sensuous, the harmonies resonating in the vocal realm as the perfectly carved and cured woods of ideally matched violas and cellos. It’s a very special two minutes and 44 seconds that you will be sure to repeat. … I really enjoyed this disc, for its smart programming and exceptional, often very moving performances. The sound, of finely tuned and beautifully balanced male voices, will move you as well, as it so affectingly captures this very special music, whether known or newly experienced.”
Catholic Herald, Francis O’Gorman | January 2019 “One of the most striking features of this ensemble is that they produce the illusion of being one voice: the coherence of the sound, and the disciplined expressiveness from the top to the bottom line, result in a kind of sonic unity that is distinctive and compelling. Among the choral ensembles of the present, who move us with their insightful readings of masterworks from the Renaissance, the Gesualdo Six are already making their mark.”
Cathedral Music Magazine, Timothy Storey | November 2018 “…this is a CD of rare quality, the very first note arresting our attention with a countertenor tone of great beauty. …a beatific smile of pure enjoyment as we listened to this admirably constructed programme: and we agreed that we had never heard better performances of the three Byrd motets, Vigilate being sung with great energy and dramatic power, and Civitas sancti tui, the magnificent second part of Ne irascaris, given at a properly slow tempo with great pathos and expression. … There is not a bad track anywhere… I have no hesitation in recommending this as an anthology of the highest quality, excellently sung and recorded.”
The Royal School of Church Music, Stuart Robinson | June 2018
“…theirs is a silky, smooth, fresh sound, and, with just a handful of singers, there’s an intimacy of performance not possible with larger numbers. There’s some nifty singing on this CD – Byrd’s Vigilate is a case in point – and, by contrast, warmth and richness in works such as John Sheppard’s Libera nos, salva nos. … With comprehensive, scholarly CD notes from Owain Park, this is an excellent collection.”
BBC Music Magazine, Paul Riley | June 2018
“…while the title can’t be faulted on grounds of accuracy, ‘English Motets’ gives little hint of the glorious treasure trove lurking within. … Weavers of rich and plangent aural tapestries, The Gesualdo Six meld style and substance with beguiling sure-footedness. An auspicious debut.”
Diapason | May Edition 2018
“The young English sextet succeeds, from the very first moments, to capture the attention by imposing a new and very particular voice. An original way of singing these polyphonies, which combines an absolute technical perfection – intonation, diction – with an intimate, enveloping and soft sound. So at the antipodes of the clamour chosen by The Cardinall’s Musick with the same number of singers. … If the individual voices are always recognizable, the overall sound blends in with a superb homogeneity. We appreciate the magnitude of the expressive spectrum covered by this anthology, and the impressive capacity of The Gesualdo Six to create contrasted climates, from the deepest recollection (Ne Irascaris) to the jubilant vigor (Vigilate).”
BBC Record Review, Andrew MacGregor | April 2018 “This selection of English motets proves to be a fine showcase for their clear voices, immaculate intonation and a certain instinct for the drama and intensity of the repertoire, as they explore the extraordinary journey that composition took around the English Reformation.”
The Daily Telegraph | April 2018 ★★★★★ Spellbound by a medley of mighty motets “The genre [motets] flourished mightily in England, as it did all over Europe, and Owain Park, the director of young vocal group The Gesualdo Six has set out to represent the English kind in all its variety. … It’s an ambitious aim for a single CD – but Park pulls it off. The blend and tuning of the voices is so fine that the group achieves a powerfully full sound. … The sheer beauty of the group’s sound in lofty high-Renaissance style pieces like Byrd’s Miserere is spellbinding. The fine-grained texture of solo voices allows us to savour the amazing harmonic pungency of English sacred music, which at times seems almost modernist. It is a wonderful achievement.”
Gramophone | April 2018 “The vocal quality is very fine, not to say superb, and when the music calls for an extrovert approach (as do Byrd’s Vigilate or, very differently, Dunstable’s four-voice Veni Sancte Spiritus) the singers respond with an athleticism and a feel for pacing that isn’t perhaps so common. The close miking does justice to the contrapuntal details, maintaining clarity in all but the densest writing.”
