Philips & Dering: Motets

Featuring

Matthew Martin
In Echo
The Choir of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Peter Philips
Richard Dering
John Dowland

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Historical Context

Both composers on this album, Peter Philips and Richard Dering, were Roman Catholics who left England due to religious persecution and worked in continental Europe.

Compositional Technique

The motets on this album showcase a new 'proto-Baroque' style (stile nuovo) that incorporated novel foreign devices, contrasting with the older Renaissance style (stile antico).

Composer Biography

Richard Dering, born two decades after Philips, met the older composer in Brussels when Philips's daughter was received into the Convent of Our Lady of the Assumption, where Dering was organist.

Composer Biography

Peter Philips spent five years in the service of Thomas Paget, an exiled aristocrat and graduate of Caius College, Cambridge, touring Europe before settling in Antwerp.

Composer Biography

Peter Philips, a Roman Catholic born in Elizabethan England, received his musical training as a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral in London under Sebastian Westcott, who also taught William Byrd.

Compositional Technique

Richard Dering explicitly wrote vocal works with an instrumental bass line (basso continuo), reflecting the latest Italian-born musical practice of the time.

Recording & Production

The organ used for this recording is a Walter Chinaglia organ from 2009, courtesy of The English Organ School and Museum, and was tuned to A=464 with 1/4 comma meantone temperament.