This antiphon is one of my favourites amongst Byrd's antiphons it's a prayer for help and the coming of peace. Its text is taken from the Vulgate (Matthew 8: 25–26) – the verses recounting how Jesus stilled the tempest in the Sea of Galilee:
25 Et accesserunt ad eum discipuli ejus, et suscitaverunt eum, dicentes: Domine, salva nos: perimus.
Byrd uses several musical devices to achieve the effects he desired as you listen you'll hear him use a descending scale at 'perimus' (we perish) to portray the sinking of the disciples while the serenity of the musical phrase he uses for 'tranquillitatem' and poignancy of the antiphon's final cadences never fail to move me. It's sung below by The Cardinall's Musick conducted by Andrew Carwood. Enjoy :-).
markfromireland
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A Lincolnshire man, Robert Fayrfax (1464-1521) rose to be the chief composer for Henry VII and the young Henry VIII is best remembered for his settings of the Mass, but this highly successful English Tudor composer who was awarded Oxford's very first doctor of music degree wrote in many genres. We don't know why he gave the title "Regale" to this setting of the Magnificat although it's reasonable to suppose that it was because he composed it for the king or perhaps for a royal foundation such as Eton College. It's a magnificent example of one of the principal forms of English sacred music at the turn of the sixteenth century that is filled with energy and brilliantly elaborated contrapuntalism that although it looks backward in terms of its structure and rythmic complexity also anticipates future compositions in its effects and reliance on imperfect consonance. It's a very florid piece of music in which long long phrases entwine and wind their upwards creating a wall of musical beauty that seems to hang in the air. It's sung below by the Danish choir "Ars Nova Koret" (Copenhagen) conducted by Paul Hillier. Enjoy :-).
