Clarifica me pater : 3 settings by William Byrd performed by Dale Carr

Описание: Clarifica me pater : 3 settings by William Byrd performed by Dale Carr on the triforium organ in the cathedral in Metz on 4 July, 1993. {Organ by Jehan de Trèves, 1536, & Marc Garnier, 1981}
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These 3 separate settings make an excellent group despite the fact that the earliest sources don't preserve them together, or even with their correct titles. At the probable time of their composition they would have had no liturgical function, making them what we like to call "pure music".

The 1st setting is in 2 voices with the c.f. in the lowest voice. In the 1st half, the cantus firmus is broken up in a manner found more frequently in the works of a generation earlier. In the 2nd half the c.f. is placed an 8ve higher and the upper voice is in triple meter.

The 2nd setting is in 3 voices with the c.f. in the highest voice; triple meter and syncopations characterize the 2nd half.

The 3rd setting is in 4 voices with the c.f. in the alto voice. The accompanying voices provide a smooth succession of subjects in imitation.

The fotos accompanying the recording give an idea of the appearance of 16th-century English organs; this instrument, in Old Radnor, Wales, is thought to date from ~1540. It was reconstructed in 1872; none of the original pipework remains. The details of the carving deserve just as close inspection as do the details of Byrd's counterpoint.