Parsons, R.: First Great Service / Responds for the Dead

Featuring

Barnaby Smith
Voces Cantabiles
Robert Parsons

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Compositional Technique

The First 'Great' Service was revolutionary for its use of new English texts and for having musical unification between its different movements.

Composer Biography

Robert Parsons, a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, drowned in the River Trent in 1572, leading to his music being largely forgotten.

Compositional Technique

The First 'Great' Service is scored for two antiphonal choirs, with polyphony ranging from five to eight parts, and the countertenors always separated.

Composition History

Parsons' First 'Great' Service was one of the first complete settings of the revolutionary 1549 English texts from Thomas Cranmer's new Book of Common Prayer.

Album & Artwork

This recording aims to provide Robert Parsons with a memorial service he never received, helping to restore his place among English Renaissance composers.

Cultural Impact

Parsons' First 'Great' Service is considered the inspiration and model for more famous service settings, including William Byrd's Great Service.

Performer Biography

Voces Cantabiles, the chamber choir on this recording, was formed by ex-choristers of Westminster Abbey and won seven awards at the 2005 International Choral Grand Prix in Italy.