SANSARA: Byrd 400: Before the Dawn

expert interlocking of exquisite voices in a sound that takes us beyond our everyday selves – Edinburgh Music Review
SANSARA slips easily into the elite ranks of exceptional performers…breathtaking – Choir & Organ

Join the vocal collective SANSARA to mark the quarter-centenary of the death of William Byrd, the most famous of England’s Tudor musicians. Alongside some of his most enduring works, rarely-performed gems tell the story of a recusant Catholic within the turbulent Tudor court and church. Works by his teacher and friend Thomas Tallis and colleague Philippe De Monte complement Byrd’s musical genius, variety and invention, celebrating his remarkable ability to find – from the darkest and most anguished depths – a longing and hope for a new dawn.

Programme:

William Byrd     O God, give ear
William Byrd     Miserere mei, Deus
William Byrd     Tribulationes civitatum

Philippe de Monte     Miserere mei, Deus
Philippe de Monte     Super flumina Babylonis

William Byrd     Quomodo cantabimus
William Byrd     Infelix ego

–  INTERVAL –

William Byrd     Attend mine humble prayer
William Byrd     Vide Domine
William Byrd     Exsurge Domine
William Byrd     Haec dies

Thomas Tallis     I call and cry to thee
Thomas Tallis     Ave Verum Corpus

William Byrd    Libera me Domine, et pone me juxta te
William Byrd    Diliges Dominum

Thomas Tallis     Miserere Nostri

William Byrd     Vigilate