The Deer's Cry

Featuring

Harry Christophers
Emma Brain-Gabbott
The Sixteen
William Byrd
Arvo Pärt
Thomas Tallis

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Arvo Pärt developed a compositional technique called 'tintinnabulation,' which he describes as working with very few elements, like the three notes of a triad, which are 'like bells'.

Composition History

The collection Cantiones sacrae, published jointly by Byrd and Tallis in 1575, was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth and explicitly intended for export to showcase Tudor culture.

Historical Context

Queen Elizabeth I, who loved music and had private empathy for Catholicism, granted a patent in 1575 to William Byrd and Thomas Tallis to publish music.

Historical Context

William Byrd, a devout and practicing Catholic, lived under constant threat of religious persecution in a country where only the Anglican faith was officially celebrated.

Composer Biography

Arvo Pärt spent most of his life in Soviet-controlled Estonia, only realizing the implications of living in the Soviet Union as he grew older.

Compositional Technique

Byrd's eight-voice motet Diliges Dominum is a perfect palindrome, meaning it sounds the same forwards and backwards, though this is impossible for a listener to discern in performance.

Performer Biography

The Sixteen, led by founder Harry Christophers, is recognized as one of the world's greatest ensembles, with a special reputation for early English polyphony and Renaissance masterpieces.