A delightful piece, a setting of one of the psalms sung at Tuesday Vespers and on Feasts of Apostles. In line with its unusual scoring it falls into sections mainly for SS, TT, ST duos, the B sometimes singing alone, sometimes with one or more of the other voices, with occasional tuttis.
SSABMagnificat Antiphon, Circumcision of Our Lord (Jan. 1) and Christmastide£3.00
Less well-known Christmas piece with demanding ranges for SSA (or T with top Bflat)
EMP0527Byrd, WilliamSolve iubente Deo
SSATTBMagnificat Antiphon, St. Peter in Chains (S. Petri ad Vincula)(August 1)£3.00
A magnificent piece, one of the few for 6 voices in the Gradualia associated with the feasts of St Peter. The text is both Magnificat Antiphon at Vespers and Alleluia verse in the Mass. Byrd's print omits almost all the text for obvious political reasons; it has been reconstructed here.
EMP1287Gabrieli, GiovanniO quam suavis 1597
SSAATBaBMagnificat 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.
EMP1288Gabrieli, GiovanniO quam suavis 1597
SSAATBaBMagnificat 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.
EMP0470Handl, Jakob (Gallus)O Sapientia
SATBBMagnificat Antiphon, Advent£3.00
A setting of one of the 'Great O' Antiphons (Dec. 17)
EMP1032Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi daHodie Christus natus est
SSMAMagnificat Antiphon, Christmas£3.00
This simple setting is from a holograph manuscript at S. Giovanni Laterano. Its original cleffing (TrTrMA) is an 'ad aequales' combination allowing for transposition to suit the available forces. Other versions are available for different combinations of voices, this version is at the original pitch.
EMP1033Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi daHodie Christus natus est
TTBBMagnificat Antiphon, Christmas£3.00
This simple setting is from a holograph manuscript at S. Giovanni Laterano. Its original cleffing (TrTrMA) is an 'ad aequales' combination allowing for transposition to suit the available forces. Other versions are available for different combinations of voices, this version is an octave below the original pitch.
EMP1034Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi daHodie Christus natus est
SATBMagnificat Antiphon, Christmas£3.00
This simple setting is from a holograph manuscript at S. Giovanni Laterano. Its original cleffing (TrTrMA) is an 'ad aequales' combination allowing for transposition to suit the available forces. Other versions are available for different combinations of voices, this version is a fifth below the original pitch.
EMP0544Regnart, JacobO decus Trebnitiae
SSATTBMagnificat Antiphon, St. Hedwig (October 15)£4.00
A splendid piece whose scale indicates something of the esteem in which Hedwig - Patrona Silesiae - was held. She was born daughter of Count Berthold III of Andechs in 1174, married Henry I (The Bearded) and thus became Duchess of Silesia and Poland. She founded with her husband the Cistercian nunners of Trebniz, near Wroclaw (Breslau) to which she retired on the death of her husband and son in 1238. She died there in 1243 and was buried near her husband in the Abbey church where they both still lie.
From Croce's Vespertina collection of 1597. This version is a tone below original pitch.
EMP0913Croce, GiovanniMagnificat VIII Toni
SATB ATTBVesper Canticle, General Use£4.00
From Croce's Vespertina collection of 1597. This version is at original pitch.
EMP1251Gabrieli, GiovanniMagnificat a 14 (1615)
14 parts: see descriptionVesper Canticle, General Use£7.10
One of the least well-known of Gabrieli's large-scale pieces. It would have been most appropriate for a Marian Feast but can of course be sung at any time. It is cleffed TrSMAT MTBaBSb MATB and bc. The third choir is the Capella, in which all parts are sung (but can be doubled, for example by strings). Choir I is probably for a solo Tenor and four high instruments, Choir II for solo Soprano and four trombones or similar.
EMP1690Gabrieli, GiovanniMagnificat a 14 (1615)
14 parts: see descriptionVesper Canticle, General Use£13.50
A set of parts for EMP1251, including an organ part with a blank right hand.
EMP1259Gabrieli, GiovanniMagnificat a 8 1597
SMAT ATTBVesper Canticle, General Use£4.75
The least ambitious of the surviving Magnificat settings, this is nonetheless a fine piece, from the 1597 collection. The same collection includes a setting for twelve voices: the 1615 collection includes another 12-voice setting as well as one for 14 and one for 17 voices, while incomplete manuscript sources document one setting for 20 or 28 voices, and another for 33 voices.
EMP1281Gabrieli, GiovanniMagnificat a 8 1597
SMAT ATTBVesper Canticle, General Use£4.75
Up a tone.
EMP1246Lassus, Roland de (Orlandus Lassus, Orlando di Lasso)Magnificat Dessus le marché d'Arras
SSATTBVesper Canticle, General Use£4.75
One of the more than 100 'imitation' Magnificats by Lassus, this one is a parody on his own delightful chanson.
SATBMarian Antiphon, Advent and Christmastide (until Purification)£3.00
A simple attractive setting, clearly influenced by Palestrina's but none the less worth exploring.
EMP0328AnonymousAlma Redemptoris Mater
chantMarian Antiphon, Advent and Christmastide (until Purification)Chant notation (St. Meinrad)£2.50
This edition of the antiphon is a new transcription of the chant as given in the Hartker ms (St. Gall 390-391). It differs considerably from the official Vatican Edition (Antiphonale Monasticum) which claims to be based on the same source.
EMP0049Byrd, WilliamSalve Regina (1605)
SATBMarian Antiphon, Holy Trinity to the Saturday before Advent£3.00
The simple setting from the Gradualia.
EMP1107Cavalli, FrancescoSalve Regina
SATB,bcMarian Antiphon, Holy Trinity to the Saturday before Advent£4.00
A further piece from Cavalli's Musiche Sacre; the setting is through-composed and uses several different tempi to match the text.
EMP0731Croce, GiovanniSalve Regina
SATB MATBMarian Antiphon, Holy Trinity to the Saturday before Advent£4.00
Croce provided settings of all four standard Marian Antiphons in his 1591 collection of music for Compline. They are all comparatively simple and very effective.
EMP0538Obrecht, JacobAlma Redemptoris Mater
SABaMarian Antiphon, Dedication of a Church£4.00
An extended setting of the Antiphon.
EMP0539Obrecht, JacobSalve Regina
SSATTBMarian Antiphon, Holy Trinity to the Saturday before Advent£5.00
An awesome piece: in my ensemble Hofkapelle we refer to this is 'Obrecht's Ninth'. The piece is on a huge scale and lasts a good 12 minutes including the chant verses. I offer it in two versions, one for mixed and one for male voices.
EMP0762Obrecht, JacobSalve Regina
SSATTBMarian Antiphon, Holy Trinity to the Saturday before Advent£5.00
This is the version for male voices.
EMP0792Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi daAve regina coelorum - Gaude gloriosa
SATTBMarian Antiphon, Marian Feasts£4.00
A lovely piece, the second part of which has been recorded by Chanticleer. It sets an early variant of the standard text, whose second half begins Gaude gloriosa. Here offered at the original high clef pitch.
EMP0793Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi daAve regina coelorum - Gaude gloriosa
SATTBMarian Antiphon, Marian Feasts£4.00
A lovely piece, the second part of which has been recorded by Chanticleer. It sets an early variant of the standard text, whose second half begins Gaude gloriosa. Here offered a 4th lower than the original high clef pitch.
EMP0794Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi daAve regina coelorum - Gaude gloriosa
SATTBMarian Antiphon, Marian Feasts£4.00
A lovely piece, the second part of which has been recorded by Chanticleer. It sets an early variant of the standard text, whose second half begins Gaude gloriosa. Here offered a 3rd lower than the original high clef pitch.
A reconstruction of the piece as it was probably originally intended. It survives incomplete, lacking the Tenor, in Christ Church and Peterhouse mss, in one with the title Christe Jesu, in the other as O Christe Jesu, and incorporating a prayer in the one case for Henry VIII and in the other for Elizabeth I. It seems to have started life as a setting of the Antiphon to St William (of York) sung each evening at Cardinal College (later Christ Church), Oxford and incporporating a prayer for Cardinal Wolsey, Founder of the College. It provided the model for the Missa O Willelme, also known as the 'Small Devotion' Mass.
A magnificent and beautiful piece, one of no less than 12 settings in the Eton Choirbook, including two by Turges. The text is a meditation on the Seven Joyful Mysteries of the Virgin Mary. This setting, with three boys’ voices, was possibly composed for New College, Oxford.
One of the few Renaissance pieces with a Polish text which have found their way into the repertoire. A simple but effective setting of a prayer for protection during the night