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 sections – first sopranos and altos, followed by tenors and basses, with the addition of soprano 1, before the whole ensemble is finally heard together for the third climactic section.“- Charlotte Bray Text: Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem. Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, grant us thy peace. Full album listing: 1. Super flumina Babylonis- Philippe De Monte (4’46) 2. Quomondo cantabimus- William Byrd (7’02) 3. Kyrie, from Mass for 5 Voices- William Byrd (1’30) 4. Gloria, from Mass for 5 Voices- William Byrd (5’04) 5. Credo, from Mass for 5 Voices- William Byrd (9’16) 6. Sanctus and Benedictus, from Mass for 5 Voices- William Byrd (3’39) 7. Agnus Dei, from Mass for 5 Voices- William Byrd (3’39) 8. Kyrie after Byrd- Roxanna Panufnik (3’44) 9. Laudate Dominum- Francis Pott (6’00) 10. Show me, deare Christ- Alexander L’Estrange (13’10) 11. Upheld by Stillness- Owain Park (6’54) 12. Agnus Dei- Charlotte Bray (4’40) 13. Ave verum corpus- William Byrd (3’34) 14. Ave verum corpus Re-imagined- Roderick Williams (5’46)