Henry’s Music
Motets from a Royal Choirbook;
Songs by Henry VIII
Andrew Lawrence-King, harp
Alamire QuintEssential;
David Skinner, conductor
Obsidian
The British choral ensemble Alamire can always be relied upon to produce sonically vibrant, vocally well-matched and balanced, and interpretively authoritative
performances, and that’s what you’ll find in this thoroughly interesting
program of motets, songs and instrumental pieces from the time of Henry VIII.
In fact, many of the selections are attributed to the king himself, nine songs
and instrumental pieces being drawn from the so-called “Henry VIII Manuscript”
that resides in the British Library.
The instrumental works are performed by harp or by the ensemble QuintEssential,
which consists of cornett, shawm, sackbut and percussion; the solo songs are
sensitively, beautifully sung by mezzo Clare Wilkinson, whose timbre here is
remarkably like a countertenor’s. Highlights include Sampson’s Salve radix and Quam pulcra est (those cross-relations!); Jacotin’s Beati omnes (sung by the lower voices), with its wonderfully flowing, interwoven lines and thrillingly resonant harmonies; and the opening O Christe Jesu, pastor bone by John Taverner, a perfectly written little gem that should be in every serious choir’s repertoire. I can’t overemphasize how much of the success of this recording is due to Alamire’s impeccably balanced, full-bodied, well-tuned sound, so expertly recorded in three different venues — and to the scholarship and clearly inspired direction of David Skinner.
- David Vernier
