Tye/Mundy: Vocal Works

*****
One of my favourite early music discs 2 Feb 2008

Time has not been particularly kind to either Christopher Tye or William Mundy. In the former's case, the flowering of his genius came just at that crucial time in English musical history when the old Catholic way of life was abandoned, and with it went a spectacular tradition of choral singing. Mundy was young enough at the Reformation to continue composing after the switch to Protestantism, but the musical dogma of that time, which enforced dry, lifeless psalm settings and syllabic hymns, has left his reputation sullied by music he clearly would rather not have written.

Thankfully, though, this disc brings to life the music that these men would have wished to be remembered by. In Mundy's case there is the glorious motet "Peccavimus", which is full of deep Lenten sorrow and powerful emotions, which bears happy comparison with his other great work "Vox Patris" (not on this disc). From Tye there is the sublime mass setting "Euge Bone", a work that can justifiably be described as a true masterpiece of its era. Each movement carries with it a different mood and colour, from the beautifully introspective setting of the Agnus Dei (especially the third "gimel" section for upper voices over a quietly moving bass line) to the majesty of the Sanctus, and the dramatic brilliance of the Benedictus.

Jeremy Summerly's Oxford Camerata give this music a wonderful performance, full of feeling and yet technically outstanding too. The recorded sound here is intimate, and this serves the music well, as you find yourself surrounded and entwined in the weaving, mellifluous lines of the polyphony. I bought this CD nearly somewhere around 9 years ago, and I have never tired of it.