Treasures of Tudor England

Featuring

Harry Christophers
The Sixteen
Robert Parsons
Robert White
Christopher Tye

Did you know?

1/7

Historical Context

The composers on this album lived through the turbulent period of religious change in England, initiated by King Henry VIII and continued by his heirs.

Cultural Impact

Much of the music on this album, by composers like Parsons, Tye, and Sheppard, was a casualty of financial problems that truncated plans for a major Tudor Church Music library series in the 1920s and 30s.

Composer Biography

Robert Parsons, another composer on this album, drowned in the River Trent in 1572, and his place in the Chapel Royal was filled by the young William Byrd.

Compositional Technique

Robert White's Lamentations use a distinctive Phrygian mode, which has two plaintive-sounding semitones, and feature bold harmonic shifts.

Composer Biography

Christopher Tye, the oldest composer featured, is thought to have acted as music tutor to King Edward VI.

Critical Reception

The historian Charles Burney, writing in the 1770s, described Christopher Tye's Mass Euge bone as "much more clear, correct, and accented than any other composition in the collection."