Audivi Vocem

As commonly known, the Hilliard Ensemble's repertoire ranges from Perotin to Erkki-Sven Tueuer, from Guillaume de Machaut to German composer Heiner Goebbels whose new music theatre project, due for first performance in Lausanne this summer, will feature the four singers. British music however marks a relatively small component of their programs. For the first time after the much-acclaimed Tallis-record The Lamentations of Jeremiah the present production offers an opportunity to listen to performances of music from the precious English a cappella repertoire. Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 - 1585), Christopher Tye (c. 1505 - c. 1575) and John Sheppard (c. 1515 - 1558) were active during a period when Britain swung violently between Catholicism and Protestantism.

While Henry VIII, who broke ties with Rome, remained Catholic in liturgical taste, his successor, Edward VI introduced a puritanical Protestant regime, to considerable effect on church music. Queen Mary, on the other hand, restored a fervent Catholicism, and only when Elizabeth mounted the throne in 1558, a moderately Protestant compromise was reached. Composers thus had to constantly adapt to the liturgical changes, and all three featuring on this CD both profited from the ensuing musical developments and shaped them themselves. In his liner notes, David Skinner - he prepared the scores and offered academic advice for this program - points out: "The Reformation, it transpires, was a very good thing for music: it forced composers to explore a variety of compositional techniques, and, most importantly, how better to set a text. It was these skills, developed, tried and tested by the likes of Tye, Sheppard and Tallis that set the foundation for the next generation of composers." Like on most of the previous Hilliard Ensemble albums, the program is carefully assembled: Tye's "Missa Sine Nomine" serves as the backbone for a suite of responds, antiphones and anthems by the three English composers.