The Whole Music Experience

The Byrd Ensemble   Markdavin Obenza   In the Company of William Byrd   Scribe Records Seattle has for several decades acted as a hotbed for music communities, including an early music community that began in the 1970s.   These days, Seattle’s early music community features a few of the founders of the early music scene as well as, newcomers such the Tudor Choir, Renaissance Singers and The Byrd Ensemble, named after renaissance church music composer William Byrd.   On the ensemble’s latest recording, In the Company of William Byrd the singers explore the music of Byrd’s contemporaries and mentors who hail mostly from the European mainland. Here we have a lush recording of renaissance polyphonic singing exploring the sacred works of Philip van Wilder, a Flemish lutenist, Alfonso Ferrabosco, an Italian composer, Clemens non Papa (also covered by the Tudor Choir in a 2006 recording), Thomas Morley (English composer), and rounding off ...

The Byrd Ensemble (Seattle) Our Lady (Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks) Scribe Records The Tudor period represented a traumatic time in English history.   We are reminded of the vengeance of Henry VIII against not only his wives (plural, he had 6 of them), but also against the Catholic Church.   During his reign monasteries were sacked and musical composers displaced unless they could adapt to composing for the protestant church.   Somehow these Catholic compositions on Our Lady  were saved for posterity.   The church music of this time (renaissance) featured polyphonic and monophonic vocals.   One of the most famous composers of this period of English history was Thomas Tallis, who greatly inspired both the Seattle-based The Byrd Ensemble and the Tudor Choir. While I’ve reviewed recordings by The Tudor Choir, Our Lady is the first recording I’m reviewing by The Byrd Ensemble (formerly The Renaissance Singers).   I’m out of touch...