Kyrie: Rex immense, Pater Pie

This Kyrie trope/motet comes from the Codex Calixtinus (or, as some call it - and more accurately, too! -  the Liber Sancti Jacobi).   This video comes from the Budapest Schola Cantorum; here's the information about it that they posted at the YouTube page:

Budapesti Énekes Iskola / Schola Cantorum Budapestiensis
Művészeti vezetők / Artistic directors: János MEZEI, Tamás BUBNÓ

Kyrie "Rex immensae" for two voice, from Codex Callixtinus

From the photos I've seen, the Schola appears to be a mixed choir of male and female voices, both young and older.  Very nice! 



Here are the words they are singing; I found them in a German Google book.  Interestingly, there is a bit of Greek mixed with the Latin text.

              Kyrie.
Fulbertus episcopus de sancto Jacobo.

 Rex immense, pater pie,
        eleison,
 Kyrie, eleìson,
 Palmo cuncta qui concludis,
        eleison,
         Kyrie, eleison,
  Sother, theos athanatos,
        eleison,
         Kyrie, eleison.

 Christe, fili patris summi,
      eleison,
        Christe, eleisou,
Qui de coelis descendisti,
      eleìson,
        Christe, eleison,
Tuum plasma redemisti,
      eleìson,
        Christe, eleison.

Consolator, dulcis amor,
      eleison,
        Kyrie, eleison,
Qui Jacobum illustraSti,
      eleison,
        Kyrie, eleison,
Cujus prece nobis parce,
      eleison,
        Kyrie, eleison.


Great King, gentle father,
        have mercy,
      Lord have mercy,
 You hold all things in your hand,
        have mercy,
      Lord have mercy,
  Savior, immortal God,
        have mercy,
      Lord have mercy.


 Christ, Son of the Most High,
        have mercy,
      Christ have mercy,
He came down from heaven,     
       have mercy,
     Christ have mercy,
You have redeemed your creatures,
      have mercy,
    Christ have mercy.


Comforter, sweet love,
      have mercy,
    Lord have mercy,
You are illumined by James,
      have mercy,
    Lord have mercy,
By his prayer spare us,
      have mercy ,
    Lord have mercy.


The words are also here, at a Wikisource site about the Codex Calixtinus; there are some misspellings there, though.

This Kyrie is apparently contained in in an appendix to the Codex.   (I have not been able to find a full digital copy of this manuscript online so far, so this is just an assumption on my part.)   A note at this page says (in reference to the organum included in the Codex) that:

It is possible that the Benedictines of Cluny (France) assembled this collection from various sources and presented it to the Cathedral of Santiago.  The concluding appendix to the codex contains 20 polyphonic pieces and one more appears in the main body of the codex.

Kyrie: Rex Immense is a trope on the Mass 12 (Pater cuncta) Kyrie.  A trope is a musical composition in which something new - either music or text, or both - added to an original chant.

In most cases, the original chant - the Kyrie, in this case - became melismatic (ornate in melody) over time; that is, musical ornament was, over the course of years, added to a simple Kyrie eleison chant.    (The ornament here is in the wandering melody of the "Kyrie" and "Christe" sections.)

Later on (or at the same time), words were written to the melodic ornament on the simple chant; the words - and perhaps the melody? - for this particular Kyrie are apparently attributed to Bishop Fulbert of Chartres.  Fulbert actually lived from the middle of the tenth century until 1028, two full centuries before the era of the Liber Sancti Jacobi (12th Century), so this attribution may not be accurate - although Fulbert was a hymn-writer.  (One of his compositions was the familiar Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem.)

(Just to note:  Mass 12 may originally have been known as Mass 13; I'm finding several references that may indicate this.)

Here's the Mass 12 Kyrie itself:



Here's a score:

Here's a page at DIAMM with some information about the LSJ - although, again, no images of the manuscript itself.  (You can apparently see a few images at this Wikipedia page, though.  I'm not sure where these are coming from.)  This Kyrie is listed as piece #16, folio 189.  (Which is, perhaps, otherwise known as folio 218!  Really, I have no idea, since I can't see what's going on.)

In this video, you can see and hear the original chant, as well as the trope; listen for the complete "Kyrie eleison" and "Christe eleison" chants.  These are included in the words I cited above, but are left out in the video above.




And another, similar interpretation (to start with, anyway!), from Ensemble Nu:n, a favorite group of mine.   They mix medieval chant and jazz improvisation, always to interesting effect.  How could I not like them?

Requiem (Victoria)

In memory of those who've lost their lives in the Philippines this week. Many thanks to this good young choral group for recording and webcasting this beautiful music.




From the YouTube page:

Officium defunctorum
(sex vocibus, in obitu et obsequiis sacrae imperatricis, Madrid, 1605)
by Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548-1611)

Performed by University of North Texas Collegium Singers, directed by Richard Sparks.

Soloists: Laurissa Backlin, Julianna Emanski, Fiona Gillespie, sopranos; Holly Dalrymple (chant incipits); Fabiana Gonzalez, Rachael Hardy, Alyssa Narum, altos; Tucker Bilodeau, Aaron Harp, tenors; Christopher Jackson, bass.

00:50 - Taedet animam meam
04:15 - Introitus
09:45 - Kyrie
12:07 - Graduale
14:45 - Offertorium
18:15 - Sanctus y Benedictus
21:18 - Agnus Dei
24:00 - Communio
27:30 - Motet: Versa est in luctum
30:41 - Libera me

Performance from program "Victoria Requiem" as part of Early Music America's Young Performers Festival June 6, 2012, 2:30 PM, St. Mark's Episcopal Church (Berkeley, CA).

UNT Collegium Singers
Cantus 1 -- Laurissa Backlin, Julianna Emanski, Fiona Gillespie
Cantus 2 -- Holly Dalrymple, Fabiana Gonzalez, Oneyda Padierna
Altus -- Rachael Hardy, Alyssa Narum
Tenor 1 -- Tucker Bilodeau, Aaron Harp
Tenor 2 -- Bradley King, Jonathan Sauceda
Bass -- Christopher Jackson, Nathaniel Mattingly

Performance from program "Victoria Requiem" as part of Early Music America's Young Performers Festival June 6, 2012, 2:30 PM, St. Mark's Episcopal Church (Berkeley, CA).

About this piece, from Wikipedia:

Officium Defunctorum is a musical setting of the Office of the Dead composed by the Spanish Renaissance composer Tomás Luis de Victoria in 1603. It includes settings of the movements of the Requiem Mass, accounting for about 26 minutes of the 42 minute composition, and the work is sometimes referred to as Victoria's Requiem.

History

Officium Defunctorum was composed for the funeral of the Dowager Empress Maria, sister of Philip II of Spain, daughter of Charles V, wife of Maximilian II and mother of two emperors; it was dedicated to Princess Margaret for “the obsequies of your most revered mother”.^[1] The Empress Maria died on February 26, 1603 and the great obsequies were performed on April 22 and 23. Victoria was employed as personal chaplain to the Empress Maria from 1586 to the time of her death.

Victoria published eleven volumes of his music during his lifetime, representing the majority of his compositional output. Officium Defunctorum, the only work to be published by itself, was the eleventh volume and the last work Victoria published. The date of publication, 1605, is often included with the title to differentiate the Officium Defunctorum from Victoria's other setting of the Requiem Mass (in 1583, Victoria composed and published a book of Masses (Reprinted in 1592) including a Missa pro defunctis for four-part choir).

Structure

Officium Defunctorum is scored for six-part SSATTB chorus. It includes an entire Office of the Dead: in addition to a Requiem Mass, Victoria sets an extra-liturgical funeral motet, a lesson that belongs to Matins (scored for only SATB and not always included in concert performances), and the ceremony of Absolution which follows the Mass. Polyphonic sections are separated by unaccompanied chant incipits Victoria printed himself. The Soprano II usually carries the cantus firmus, though "it very often disappears into the surrounding part-writing since the chant does not move as slowly as most cantus firmus parts and the polyphony does not generally move very fast."^[2] The sections of the work are as follows:

• Taedet animam meam

Second Lesson of Matins (Job 10:1-7)

• Missa Pro Defunctis (Mass for the Dead)

With the Council of Trent, the liturgy of the Requiem Mass was standardized. Victoria sets all of the Requiem Mass sections except the Dies Irae sequence.

• Introit
• Kyrie
• Gradual
• Offertory
• Sanctus
• Agnus Dei
• Communion
  

• Versa est in luctum cithara mea (Funeral motet)

• The Absolution: Responsory
  

  • Libera me
  • Kyrie

  
  

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Mass in G minor

This is Part 1 of 2, containing the Kyrie, the Gloria, and the Credo:



And here's Part 2 - the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei:




The singers here are The Choir of Westminster Cathedral. From the YouTube page: 

If you're interested in purchasing the CD, it is available at either Arkivmusic:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/D...

Or at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-William...

The CD also includes other choral works by Vaughan Williams, and Mass by Judith Bingham.

Kyrie IV (Altissime, Cantus ad libitum)

This is the beautiful Kyrie (Altissime) from Mass IV, sung by the Benedictine monks of St. Martin Beuron.

 

According to the Liber Usualis (1961), Mass IV (Cunctípotens génitor Deus) is "For Feasts of the II Class."   This is a Kyrie Cantus ad libitum, an option to be used, according to a note in the L.U., "in order to add greater solemnity."

Cunctípotens génitor Deus is "Omnipotent Creator God" in English.  This nine-fold Kyrie - in common with other nine-fold Kyries - has also been used in a medieval trope.   Here's a definition of "trope," from the Episcopal Church website; it includes something about Cunctípotens génitor Deus, too:

A textual insertion into the authorized liturgical texts. Tropes varied from a few words to lengthy sentences. Used with traditional plainchant, the extra words were matched to the notes of a long melisma (a series of notes assigned to one syllable of the text). For example, the setting for the Kyrie eleison at S 356 in The Hymnal 1982 Accompaniment Edition, Vol. 1, once included the trope cunctipotens Genitor Deus inserted after the word Kyrie. The practice of including tropes was popular in the ninth to thirteenth centuries.

This site has the words to - and quite a bit more about - Cunctípotens génitor Deus.  As you can see, the words to each of the nine stanzas can be fitted to the chant, in lieu of the usual Kyrie text:

Cunctipotens genitor Deus omnicreator eleison    
Salvificet pietas tua nos bone rector eleison    
Fons et origo bone pie luxque perhennis eleison    
Christe dei splendor virtus patrisque sophia eleison    
Plasmatis humanis factor lapsis reparator eleison    
Ne tua dampnatur Jhesu factura benigne eleison    
Amborum sacrum spiramen nexus amorque eleison    
Procedens fomes vite fons purificans vis eleison    
Indultor culpe venie largitor optime offensas dele sacro nos munere reple eleison    
Spirte alme eleison    

All-powerful Father, God, Creator of all things, have mercy
May thy compassion save us, good ruler, have mercy
Font and origin of goodness, Holy one, light everlasting, have mercy
Christ, the splendor of God, strength and wisdom of the Father, have mercy
Creator of humankind, healer of those who fall, have mercy
Lest thy creation be damned, kind Jesus, have mercy
The holy breath, the fusion and the love of both, have mercy
Advancing flame, source of life, purifying power, have mercy
Forgiver of sin, bestower of pardon, erase our offenses, replenish us, give us holy grace, have mercy
Most gracious Spirit, have mercy

A beautiful Trinitarian text!  That same site also offers this:

Generally Kyries of the early medieval period contained long untexted portions. To compensate for this, Notker writes that he fitted Latin poetry to the untexted portions as a mnemotic device. Consequently, the Kyrie began to exist in two equally valid formats: the original Greek text and in a Latin prosula. In this case, prosula refers to the words added to the pre-existing chant. Such additions, known also as tropes were added to many chants, in both the Mass and the Office, that contained long melismatic passages. In the Mass this showed itself most clearly in the Kyrie and the Alleluia. Adding words, however, could become problematic, as tradition held that the words and music of the chants were given to the original composers by God himself. These added texts, nevertheless, served three purposes: to provide a memory aid for long melismas; to enhance and elaborate the liturgy; and (in a backhanded way) to create new liturgical texts. Tropes and Sequences (another form of medieval liturgical poetry) were severly restricted in the reforms of the 16th century Council of Trent: four Sequences were allowed to remain and all tropes were eliminated.

It is believed that a man named Tuotilo was responsible for writing this added text to Kyrie IV. Like Notker, Tuotilo was a monk at the monastery of St. Gall. Also like Notker, Tuotilo was a student of Iso annd Marcellus, unlike Notker, Tuotilo was also a sculptor and painter. Scholars believe that Notker and Tuotilo shared the work of composing prosulas; Notker was primarily responsible for adding text to the Alleluias and Tuotilo added text to other parts of the Mass. Ekkehard IV, who wrote a small biography of these early monks described Tuotilo's melodies as "strange and easily recognisable."  Of Tuotilo himself, he wrote:

"Tutilo was widely different. [from Notker] He was strong and supple in arm and limb, such a man as Fabius tells us to choose for an athlete; ready of speech, clear of voice, a delicate carver and painter; musical, with especial skill on the harp and the flute; for the Abbot gave him a cell wherein he taught the harp to the sons of noble families around. He was a crafty messenger, to run far or near; skilled in building and all the kindred arts; he had a natural gift of ready and forcible expression whether in German or in Latin, in earnest or in jest; so that the emperor Charles [the Fat] once said, "Devil take the fellow who made so gifted a man into a monk!" But with all this he had higher gifts: in choir he was mighty, and in secret prayer he had the gift of tears; a most excellent composer of poetry and melodies, yet chaste, as became the disciple of our Master Marcellus, who shut his eyes against women."

Here's something from Wikipedia about tropes, with the text for another troped Kyrie:

Tropes were a particular feature of the music and texts of the Sarum Use (the use of Salisbury, the standard liturgical use of England until the Reformation), although they occurred widely in the Latin church. Deus creator omnium, was widely used in the Sarum Use and is in the form of a troped Kyrie.

Deus creator omnium tu theos ymon nostri pie eleyson.

Tibi laudes coniubilantes regum rex Christe oramus te eleyson.

Laus virtus pax et imperium cui est semper sine fine eleyson.

Christe rex unice Patris almi nate coeterne eleyson.

Qui perditum hominem salvasti de morte reddens vite eleyson.

Ne pereant pascue oves tue Jesu pastor bone eleyson.

Consolator Spiritus supplices ymas te exoramus eleyson.

Virtus nostra Domine atque salus nostra in eternum eleyson.

Summe Deus et une vite dona nobis tribue misertus nostrique tu digneris eleyson.

O God, creator of all things, most benevolent God: have mercy upon us.

To you, Christ, King of Kings, we pray and rejoice together: have mercy.

Praise, strength, peace and power are given to him always and without end: have mercy.

Christ, king coeternal and only-begotten of the father: have mercy.

Who saved lost man from death and restored him to life: have mercy.

Jesus, good shepherd, let not your sheep perish: have mercy.

Holy Spirit, the Comforter, we implore you to pray for us: have mercy.

Lord God our strength and salvation in eternity: have mercy.

Great and ever-living God, you have had pity on us. Grant your gifts to those whom you deem worthy: have mercy.

The standard Latin-rite ninefold Kyrie is the backbone of this trope. Although the supplicatory format ('eleyson'/'have mercy') has been retained, the Kyrie in this troped format adopts a distinctly Trinitarian cast with a tercet address to the Holy Spirit which is not present in the standard Kyrie. Deus creator omnium is thus a fine example of the literary and doctrinal sophistication of some of the tropes used in the Latin rite and its derived uses in the mediæval period.

The troped material for the kyrie in the video has been dropped out, leaving just the original form of the chant, Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison.

Some of the masses are actually named according to the tropes on their Kyries, as far as I can tell.  (I am in the middle of some investigation into tropes, and will confirm this when I'm sure of it!)

There's more about tropes here, at New Advent.

Sanctus XI from Mass XI

Via Antoine Daniel; Mass XI is "Orbis Factor" ("Creator of the world").



Get audio files and chant scores for all the mass ordinary settings here.)

"Mass X (called 'Alme Pater')"

Just the plainsong of the Ordinary (without the Credo), sung beautifully by the Westminster Cathedral Choir.



HT Saturday Chorale:

This week's Sunday Playlist is the Missa Alme Pater, one of the Mass settings contained in the Kyriale. The Kyriale?

The Kyriale is a collection of Gregorian chant settings for the Ordinary of the Mass. It contains eighteen Masses (each consisting of the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei), six Credos, and several ad libitum chants. This collection is included in liturgical books such as the Graduale Romanum and Liber Usualis, and it is also published as a separate book by the monks of Solesmes Abbey. Alme Pater (for Marian feasts and memorials).

Source: Kyriale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Wikipedia page also notes that this setting is used "for Marian feasts and memorials"; Alme Pater - corresponding exactly to "Alma Mater" - means "loving father." (I think the more precise translation is "nourishing father"; Google translate offers "bountiful," "nourishing," "kind," "loving," and "fostering" as alternatives to "loving".)

You can find scores and music for all XVIII plainsong mass settings (along with some other standalone ordinary chants, and seven Credos), in Latin, at CCWatershed.  Get English versions - not all come with sound files - at MusicaSacra.

Bach: Mass in B minor (Proms 2012)

Here's a live recording of the whole Mass in B Minor, sung this past August at the BBC Proms. Stupendous.

Prom 26: Bach -- Mass in B minor
Johann Sebastian Bach - Mass in B minor

Joélle Harvey soprano
Carolyn Sampson soprano
Iestyn Davies counter-tenor
Ed Lyon tenor
Matthew Rose bass

Choir of the English Concert
The English Concert
Harry Bicket conductor

Royal Albert Hall
2 August 2012

More about the piece, from Wikipedia:

Structure of the work

Main article: Mass in B minor structure

The work consists of 27 sections.

I. Kyrie

1. Kyrie eleison (1st). 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked Adagio, Largo, common time.^[22]
2. Christe eleison. Duet (soprano I,II) in D major with obbligato violins, marked Andante, common time.
3. Kyrie eleison (2nd). 4-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in F# minor, marked Allegro moderato, cut-common time ("alla breve").

Note the 9 (trinitarian, 3 x 3) movements with the largely symmetrical structure, and Domine Deus in the centre.

1. Gloria in excelsis. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace, 3/8 time. The music appears also as the opening chorus of Bach's cantata Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191.
2. Et in terra pax. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Andante, common time. Again the music also appears in the opening chorus of BWV 191.
3. Laudamus te. Aria (soprano II) in A major with violin obbligato, marked Andante, common time.
4. Gratias agimus tibi. 4-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Allegro moderato, cut-common time. The music is a reworking of the second movement of Bach's Ratswechsel cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29.
5. Domine Deus. Duet (soprano I, tenor) in G major, marked Andante common time. The music appears as a duet in BWV 191.
6. Qui tollis peccata mundi. 4-part chorus (Soprano II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked Lento, 3/4 time. The chorus is a reworking of the first half of the opening movement of cantata Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgend ein Schmerz sei, BWV 46.
7. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris. Aria (alto) in B minor with oboe d'amore obbligato, marked Andante commodo, 6/8 time.
8. Quoniam tu solus sanctus. Aria (bass) in D major with corno da caccia obbligato, marked Andante lento, 3/4 time.
9. Cum Sancto Spiritu. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace, 3/4 time. The music appears also in modified form as the closing chorus of BWV 191.

II. Symbolum Nicenum, or Credo

Note the 9 movements with the symmetrical structure, and the crucifixion at the centre.

1. Credo in unum Deum. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in A mixolydian, marked Moderato, cut-common time.
2. Patrem omnipotentem. 4-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Allegro, cut-common time. The music is a reworking of the opening chorus of cantata Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm, BWV 171.
3. Et in unum Dominum. Duet (soprano I, alto) in G major, marked Andante, common time.
4. Et incarnatus est. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked Andante maestoso, 3/4 time.
5. Crucifixus. 4-part chorus (Soprano II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in E minor, marked Grave, 3/2 time. The music is a reworking of the first section of the first chorus of the cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12.
6. Et resurrexit. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Allegro, 3/4 time.
7. Et in Spiritum Sanctum. Aria (Bass) in A major with oboi d'amore obbligati, marked Andantino, 6/8 time.
8. Confiteor. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in F# minor, marked Moderato, Adagio, cut-common time.
9. Et expecto. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace ed allegro, cut-common time. The music is a reworking of the second movement of Bach's Ratswechsel cantata Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille, BWV 120 on the words Jauchzet, ihr erfreute Stimmen.

III. Sanctus

1. Sanctus. 6-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto I, II, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Largo, common time; Vivace, 3/8 time. Derived from an earlier, now lost, 3 soprano, 1 alto work written in 1724.

IV. Osanna, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei

1. Osanna. double chorus (both four parts) in D major, marked Allegro, 3/8 time. A reworking of the opening chorus of BWV 215 — although they may share a common lost model.
2. Benedictus. Aria for tenor with flute obbligato (some later editions use violin obbligato) in B minor, marked Andante, 3/4 time.
3. Osanna (da capo). as above.
4. Agnus Dei. Aria for alto in G minor with violin obbligato, marked Adagio, common time. Derives from an aria of a lost wedding cantata (1725) which Bach also re-used as the alto aria of his Ascension Oratorio Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11 but as the two different surviving versions are markedly different, it is thought they share a common model.
5. Dona nobis pacem. 4-part chorus in D major, marked Moderato, cut-common time. The music is almost identical to "Gratias agimus tibi" from the Gloria.
   

And I've always liked this article, "Bach's Mass in B Minor as Musical Icon."

Gloria: Mozart's Coronation Mass in C major - the Salisbury Cathedral Choir

A short video of a lovely song sung by a great choir - but watch it especially for a fantastic look at the inside of the Cathedral!


HT Saturday Chorale.

Bach: Mass in B minor, BWV232

The whole thing.   If you have an hour or so, why not spend it listening to the most wonderfully thrilling piece of music you'll ever hear?

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 † 1750)

Work: Mass in B minor, for soloist, chorus, orchestra & continuo, BWV232

01. Coro: Kyrie eleison
02. Aria (Duetto): Christe eleison
03. Coro: Kyrie eleison
04. Coro: Gloria in excelsis Deo
05. Coro: Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis
06. Aria: Laudamus te
07. Coro: Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam
08. Aria (Duetto): Domine Deus, Rex coelestis
09. Coro: Qui tollis peccata mundi
10. Aria: Qui sedes ad dextram Patris, miserere nobis.
11. Aria: Quoniam tu solus sanctus
12. Coro: Cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris, Amen.
13. Coro: Credo in unum Deum
14. Coro: Patrem omnipotentem
15. Aria (Duetto) Et in unum Dominum
16. Coro: Et incarnatus est
17. Coro: Crucifixus etiam pro nobis
18. Coro: Et resurrexit tertia die
19. Aria: Et in spiritum sanctum dominum
20. Coro: Confiteor tibi
21. Coro: Et exspecto
22. Coro: Sanctus
23. Coro: Osanna in excelsis I
24. Aria: Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
25. Coro: Osanna in excelsis II
26. Aria: Agnus Dei
27. Coro: Dona nobis pacem

Missa Albanus - Robert Fayrfax (1464-1521):

Saturday Chorale  points to this video - a beautiful 15th Century mass by Robert Fayrfax (a name new to me).   Read SC's post below the video.

I've picked Fayrfax's Missa Albanus for this week's "Sunday Playlist" to serve as a further introduction to Fayrax and his work. It's a lovely piece of music with soaring ethereal polyphony that is very restrained and spare and all the more beautiful for that, it's a piece of music I listen to often. During his life Fayrfax was recognised as a leading composer by King Henry VIII who acknowledged his status as a  leading composer of his generation and rewarded him handsomely. A Lincolnshire man, Fayrfax was born in Deeping Gate on April 23, 1464. There's no surviving record of his schooling or of his earliest musical training but he's known to have had Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443–1509), Countess of Richmond and Derby and King Henry VII's mother as a patron. Her patronage would have led to Fayrfax being established at court and by 1497 he was sufficiently well thought of both as a musician and as a courtier to be appointed a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal. He studied music in both Cambridge and Oxford receiving the degrees of MusB (1501) and MusD (1504) from Cambridge and was awarded Oxford University's first ever doctorate in music in 1511. He's known to have been present at such important state occasions as Henry VII's funeral, Henry VIII's coronation, the burial of Prince Henry, and the meeting of the kings of England and France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in June 1520. He died in 1521.

His "Missa Albanus" Mass setting was most likely written for choir of St Alban's Abbey, like his Marian antiphon "Maria plena virtute"  it's based on a nine note theme found in a plainsong antiphon "Primus in Anglorum", in the rhyming Office of St Alban "O Albane Deo grate". It's a fairly traditional English festal Mass which omits the Kyrie which would have been troped under the Sarum rite usage his setting also truncates the Credo. The four movements – Gloria, Credo, Sanctus & Benedictus, and Agnus Dei are of approximately equal length and are each introduced by a head motif which looks forward to the cantus firmus. His treatment of the cantus firmus was very original he presents his theme backwards – both inverted and in retrograde inversion, this supplements his use of contrasting freely composed three part sections and cantus firmus based sections for the full choir.  It's sung below by The Cardinall's Musick conducted by Andrew Carwood.