Lassus:
Decantabat populus

Sheppard, J:
Illustrissima omnium
Singularis privilegii

Tallis:
I call and cry to thee, O Lord

Taverner:
Quemadmodum desiderat cervus

Following the freshness and vigour of their quincentenary portrait celebration of Robert Fayrfax, Ensemble Pro Victoria’s second Delphian album brings a similar boldness of approach to a wider-ranging collection, charting some rarely explored territory from a time of great religious, societal and musical change.

Broken fragments of huge pre-Reformation works, preserved only in lute tablature; the first reconstruction and recording of some of the earliest Anglican psalm settings ever written; French chansons and motets once popular in England; improvisatory organ verses within Lady Mass movements by Ludford; and an English-texted version of a much-loved Tallis anthem that shows it in a quite different light: these forgotten ‘afterlives’ of earlier Tudor music help build a much more complete picture of music in sixteenth-century England.

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Recorded on 28 February-2 March 2022 in All Hallows’, Gospel Oak & 21 April 2022 St James’ and St Basil’s Church, Newcastle upon Tyne. Organ built in 2002 by Goetze & Gwynn for the Early English Organ Project. Lute by Sandi Harris.