Edition Michael Procter

Renaissance choral music

Editions of sacred renaissance vocal music by the late Michael Procter

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Editions of sacred
renaissance music by the late Michael Procter.
Revised by Robin Rigby and available from
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EMP1263 Lassus, Roland de (Orlandus Lassus, Orlando di Lasso) Penitential Psalm VI - De profundis
SATTB Psalm, Penitential £4.75
Psalm 129, Out of the deep. This version is a tone above the original pitch.
EMP1274 Gabrieli, Giovanni Exaudi me Domine a 16 (1615)
Four choirs Respond, Office of the Dead £6.00
A remarkable piece of late Renaissance polychoral writing, with extraordinary use of the madrigalian 'sospiri' figure. Denis Arnold wrote of its 'polyphonic web full of rich dissonance and ending with a grand plagal cadence.' It is a setting of a variant of the 'Libera me', presumably composed for the death of a prominent person, perhaps Doge Grimani (+ 1605). Scored for four vocal choirs, SATB SATB ATTB ATTB but obviously instruments may double or substitute for voices.
EMP1275 Gabrieli, Giovanni Exaudi Deus à 12 (1615)
a 12: see description Respond, Office of the Dead £6.00
A setting of the first three verses of Psalm 54 (55). The opening of the Psalm is set as an Offertory during Lent; this large-scale setting was presumably for a non-liturgical performance. Scored for three choirs, SMAT TBaBSb SATB: the third choir is the vocal Capella, Choir I would normally be a solo Tenor with three high instruments, Choir II a solo Tenor with three low instruments.
EMP1276 Gabrieli, Giovanni Jubilate Deo a 10 (1615)
a 10: see description Respond, Office of the Dead £7.10
This setting from Gabrieli’s posthumous 1615 collection of Symphoniae Sacrae, is – like the piece in the 1613 print - a setting of a composite text which seems to relate to the Nuptial Mass: it is not a straightforward setting of Psalm 100 (the Anglican’s ‘Jubilate’ from Matins.) The print specifies only two voices, Mezzosoprano (high countertenor) and Tenor, with the following instruments: 2 cornetti and bassoon, 5 trombones, and organ. All except the highest cornetto part (even the lowest Bass which descends to low C) are marked 'e Voce si placet', so the piece may be performed with as many singers are available.The overall cleffing is: MT (solo voices); TrSATTTBSb, org. It opens with an (optional) instrumental Sinfonia for all 10 instruments.
EMP1278 Gabrieli, Giovanni O quam gloriosa a 16
a 16: see description Assumption BVM (August 15) £6.30
This magnificent piece, one of Gabrieli's finest, is scored for four groups made up as follows: TrSST ATBaSb MATB TrATSb and Organ. The third group is the Capella, i.e. the vocal choir; the highest group is probably originally for solo Tenor and three instruments: these could be cornetti or strings with an appropriate low instrument; the second group is surely for a solo Alto and three instruments, probably trombones with either a curtal (dulcian) or Bass trombone; the fourth group is hard to identify; either the Alto or the Tenor must be sung, the other voices are for instruments. The text is otherwise unknown but clearly refers to the Assumption.
EMP1281 Gabrieli, Giovanni Magnificat a 8 1597
SMAT ATTB Vesper Canticle, General Use £4.75
Up a tone.
EMP1285 Hassler, Hans Leo Jubilate Deo a 15
a 15: see description Psalm-Motet, Christmas £6.00
This is the longest of Hassler's polychoral pieces, lasting about 5 minutes. It is scored for three groups made up as follows: TrTrSMT ATTBSb SMATB. The third group is the Capella, i.e. the vocal choir; the second group (actually called Primus Chorus, because it sings first) is surely for a solo Alto and four instruments, probably trombones with either a curtal (dulcian) or Bass trombone; the highest group, Secundus Chorus (the first in my list) is probably originally for solo Tenor and four instruments: these could be cornetti or strings. The text (Psalm 99 with variants) is often sung, but this spectacular setting is probably intended for Christmas use.
EMP1286 Hassler, Hans Leo Missa sine nomine a 12
a 12: see description Mass Ordinary, General Use £15.10
This is the largest-scale mass by Hassler, and is interesting on a number of counts. (i) It is a reworking of his only 8-voice Mass; (ii) its scoring varies not only from one to three 4-voice choirs but the first Kyrie is for two 5-voice choirs (the Christe just for one of these); (iii) the Credo is for two 4-voice choirs (the Crucifixus for four voices). Most unusually, it is in vocal clefs throughout, and is thus one of the few pieces of this size which can legitimately be sung 'a capella', although instrumental doubling is entirely authentic practice. The piece is in high clefs and is offered a 4th lower.
EMP1287 Gabrieli, Giovanni O quam suavis 1597
SSAATBaB Magnificat Antiphon, Corpus Christi £4.00
O quam suavis is one of four 7-voice motets in Gabrieli’s 1597 collection Sacrae Symphoniae. The 6- and 7-voice motets which open the collection are often overlooked in favour of the large-scale pieces which follow, but in fact they represent some of the finest music which Gabrieli left us. This version has octave-Treble clefs for both Alto parts.
EMP1288 Gabrieli, Giovanni O quam suavis 1597
SSAATBaB Magnificat Antiphon, Corpus Christi £4.00
O quam suavis is one of four 7-voice motets in Gabrieli’s 1597 collection Sacrae Symphoniae. The 6- and 7-voice motets which open the collection are often overlooked in favour of the large-scale pieces which follow, but in fact they represent some of the finest music which Gabrieli left us. This version has Treble clefs for the top 4 voices.
EMP1290 Gibbons, Orlando Lift up your heads O ye gates
SSAATB Psalm-Motet, Advent £4.00
Few Full Anthems of Gibbons survive. This is a magnificent piece suitable for Advent and general use. This version is set at the original pitch.
EMP1293 Hassler, Hans Leo Jubilate Deo a 5
SSATB Psalm-Motet, General Use £4.00
This is one of several settings of Jubilate Deo by Hassler, for from 4 to 15 voices; this 5-voice setting was printed in his great collection Sacri Concentus of 1601. This version is a 4th below the high-clef original.
EMP1294 Gabrieli, Giovanni Beata es virgo Maria
SSATBB Marian Feasts £4.00
The 6- and 7-voice a capella motets of Gabrieli are among his loveliest, but are usually overshadowed by the large-scale pieces for voices and instruments. We are publishing all the small-scale pieces.
EMP1295 Gabrieli, Giovanni Sancta Maria succurre miseris
SAATTBB (bc) Marian Feasts £4.75
The 6- and 7-voice a capella motets of Gabrieli are among his loveliest, but are usually overshadowed by the large-scale pieces for voices and instruments. We are publishing all the small-scale pieces.
EMP1296 Gabrieli, Giovanni Quis est iste a 10
TrSMAT ATBaBB Non-liturgical £6.00
The piece was conceived for two groups, each with a solo voice and instruments. Thus, the high choir (Secundus Chorus) would probably have had a solo Tenor and four high instruments (strings or cornets); the low choir (called ‘Primus Chorus’ because it sings first) a solo Altus (countertenor) and four low instruments, probably trombones, with a bass trombone or curtal on the lowest part. The Basso per l’organo was not included in the original print, the source is a manuscript partbook in Augsburg written out in 1636, which includes the 1587 Concerti as well as the 1597 collection. It combines text from Isaiah 63 and Psalm 24, and was possibly composed for an extra-liturgical celebration in connection with the Feast of the Precious Blood (July 1).
EMP1297 Byrd, William Missa 4 vocum
ATBB Mass Ordinary, General Use £6.30
The mass is here transposed down a fifth, the pitch at which our editor considers it rightly belongs. This version has three voices in octave-Treble ('Tenor') clef and one in Bass clef.
EMP1299 Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da Lamentations III (Fri.)
various Lesson (Lesung), Good Friday (Karfreitag) £6.30
Die drei 'Lesungen' für Matutin (Tenebrae) vom Karfreitag: I Heth (SATTB), II Lamed (SATTB), III Aleph (SSATTB)
EMP1306 Gabrieli, Giovanni Cantate Domino
SAATTB Motet general, Non-liturgical £3.00
The 6- and 7-voice a capella motets of Gabrieli are among his loveliest, but are usually overshadowed by the large-scale pieces for voices and instruments. We are publishing all the small-scale pieces. This piece opens the 1597 collection: O sing unto the Lord a new song: look out, here is a new sort of music!
EMP1307 Gabrieli, Giovanni Exaudi Domine
SAATTB Motet general, Penitential £3.00
The 6- and 7-voice a capella motets of Gabrieli are among his loveliest, but are usually overshadowed by the large-scale pieces for voices and instruments. We are publishing all the small-scale pieces. This piece sets the first verse of Ps. 16 (17).
EMP1313 Hassler, Hans Leo Jubilate Deo a 5
SSATB Psalm-Motet, General Use £4.00
This is one of several settings of Jubilate Deo by Hassler, for from 4 to 15 voices; this 5-voice setting was printed in his great collection Sacri Concentus of 1601. This version is just a tone below the high-clef original.
EMP1315 Byrd, William Infelix ego
SMATBaB Penitential £6.00
Infelix ego is a Latin meditation on the Miserere, Psalm 51, composed in prison by Girolamo Savonarola by 8 May 1498, after he had been tortured on the rack, and two weeks before he was burned at the stake in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence on 23 May 1498. The prison authorities had spared only his right arm during the preliminary torture, so that Savonarola would be able to sign his confession: after doing so, and in a state of despair at not being strong enough to resist the pain of his prolonged torture, he wrote Infelix ego and a portion of a companion meditation, Tristitia obsedit me, on Psalm 30. He was executed before he was able to complete Tristitia obsedit me. Byrd's powerful setting, like that of Lassus, conveys all the intensity of the text. In this version the Baritone part is printed in the Bass clef: the alternative version, no 1316, prints this voice in the same octave-Treble clef as the Tenor.
EMP1316 Byrd, William Infelix ego
SMATBaB Penitential £6.00
Infelix ego is a Latin meditation on the Miserere, Psalm 51, composed in prison by Girolamo Savonarola by 8 May 1498, after he had been tortured on the rack, and two weeks before he was burned at the stake in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence on 23 May 1498. The prison authorities had spared only his right arm during the preliminary torture, so that Savonarola would be able to sign his confession: after doing so, and in a state of despair at not being strong enough to resist the pain of his prolonged torture, he wrote Infelix ego and a portion of a companion meditation, Tristitia obsedit me, on Psalm 30. He was executed before he was able to complete Tristitia obsedit me. Byrd's powerful setting, like that of Lassus, conveys all the intensity of the text. In this version the Baritone part is printed in the same octave-Treble clef as the Tenor: the alternative version, no 1316, prints this voice in the Bass clef.
EMP1317 Hassler, Hans Leo Missa II (Missa secunda)
SATB Mass Ordinary, Eucharist £5.00
One of the better-known the masses of Hassler. A high-clef piece, here offered a fourth lower than notated.
EMP1318 Gabrieli, Giovanni Maria Virgo 1597
TrTrSMA TBBBF Marian Feasts £5.00
The celebrated piece with a range of 4 octaves. Although the scoring is not specified in the print, the piece clearly requires: in the high choir Solo Alto and four high instruments (most likeley cornetti, possibly with a tenor cornett or viola); in the lower choir (called Primus Chorus because it sounds first) a Solo Tenor and four low instruments, probably trombones with perhaps a curtal as Bass. There is an organ part in the Augsburg manuscript which is incorporated in the edition.
EMP1330 Croce, Giovanni Plaudite psallite
SMAT SATB ATBB ,  £10.30
EMP1601 Isaac, Heinrich Conceptio Mariae Virginis with De radice Jesse
SATB Motet general, Conception of BVM (December 8) £4.00
De radice Jesse has the same music as Conceptio Mariae Virginis but a different text - a contrafactum, in fact.
EMP1602 Daser, Ludwig Missa super Ave Maria
SSATBB Mass Ordinary, Marian Feasts £8.70
Daser was the choirmaster in Munich when Lassus joined the Bavarian Court Chapel as a tenor, putting Daser rather in the position of Salieri in Venice: a good composer unlucky enough to find himself coupled with one of world stature. Daser was offered an honourable compromise, taking the director's position in Stuttgart with a lifelong pension from the Bavarian ducal house. His music is being rediscovered, and this mass on Josquin's famous Marian piece is a very fine one. This version is transposed down a tone.
EMP1603 Tallis, Thomas Salvator mundi I
SAATB Antiphon, Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14) £2.50
EMP1604 Lassus, Roland de (Orlandus Lassus, Orlando di Lasso) Melancholia: Sprüche von Leben und Tod/Aphorisms on Life and Death (Op. Posth.)
SSATTB £22.50
Recently identified as a cycle, and recorded for Christophorus by the Ensemble Hofkapelle. A remarkable set of 13 acerbic, pointed, witty, wry and somewhat melancholy observations on the pointlessness of human life and the need for Grace. Set of parts.
EMP1605 Anerio, Felice Factum est silentium
SATB Respond, St. Michael Archangel (September 29) £3.00
One of the best of the four-part pieces of Anerio, and a very effective setting of the text. Besides the settings by Deering and Mouton there is also a splendid double-choir setting by Croce, recently added to our catalogue. This version is one tone higher than the original.
EMP1606 Hassler, Hans Leo Missa sine nomine a 12
a 12: see description Mass Ordinary, General Use £18.50
A set of parts for use with our full score comprising (i) a set of ten (2 five part choirs with alternative alto parts) for Kyrie I and Christe and (ii) a set of twelve (three five part choirs) for Kyrie II, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus dei.
EMP1607 Gibbons, Orlando The Cries of London
SSATTB voices and viols Secular £9.50
The celebrated piece, essentially a 6-part Viol Fantasy with vocal interjections (steet cries, watchman, beggars...). This is a set of parts.
EMP1618 Croce, Giovanni Sacre cantilene concertate 1610
£50.50
This posthumous collection is Croce's only venture into the modern music of his time, the 'seconda prattica.' The performance suggestions provided, presumably, by the publisher give a fascinating insight into the practice of the time: each piece is scored for 3, 5 or 6 soloists and continuo, plus an optional 4-voice Ripieno choir, which can be doubled or tripled (presumably in different parts of the church) 'perche fanno vagissimo e soavissimo Concerto.' This is the complete set of parts for the ripieno chorus and basso continuo.
EMP1619 Croce, Giovanni Jubilate Deo omnis terra
SSB (+MATB) bc Psalm at Lauds, Christmas £3.00
This splendid piece opens the 1610 collection. Like all the pieces in the collection it is scored for a group of soloists, and a 4-voice Ripieno which can be doubled or tripled in different parts of the church. This is the Ripieno score.
EMP1621 Croce, Giovanni Sit nomen Domini benedictum
ATB (+SATB) bc Holy Name of Jesus (Sunday between Jan. 1 and Epiphany) £3.00
A composite text drawing on references in several psalms, and presumably compiled by Croce himself. This ripieno score is a fourth below the high-clef original.
EMP1622 Croce, Giovanni Quasi stella matutina
ATB (+SATB) bc Marian Feasts £3.00
This is one of the smaller-scale pieces from the 1610 collection. The text has been derived from Ecclesiasticus 50, 6-7 and ‘Marianised’ in particular by references from the Song of Songs. This is the ripieno score.
 
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