Charlotte Bray- Agnus Dei

Charlotte Bray- Agnus Dei. (A reflection on the Agnus Dei of William Byrd’s Mass for 5 Voices). Commissioned and performed by ORA Singers & Suzi Digby. Recorded at St Alban’s, Holborn, February 2015. From the album ’Upheld by Stillness: Renaissance Gems and their Reflections’- released 12th February, 2016 with harmonia mundi. “The beauty and tranquility of the Agnus Dei in Byrd’s five-part mass is most striking. The sensual language feels almost as if one is listening in on a private conversation. Its strength lies in its simplicity and in the incredible clarity it maintains through the gradual unfolding to the magnificent climax of the piece. A fragment of Byrd’s theme was taken as the starting point for my Agnus Dei. Harmonically, the piece is built on tone clusters, which were constructed from a germ of the harmonic language of the Byrd. His very structure also influenced me; he first uses three voices; then four; and finally all five and I opted for three clear sect