Orlando Gibbons’ exquisite tunes and rock-solid basslines for the first English hymnbook, Hymnes and Songs of the Church (1623), were written to be sung and played both at home and in church. Specially realized by Antony Pitts and Alexander L’Estrange for this recording, the complete collection is interleaved with new English hymns and arranged in eight sequences following the Church’s liturgical year. full texts and scores of each hymn are now available
songs of joy 01 prelude (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) [Song 1] 0'43" 02 A Song of Joy / Christmas Day (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Songs 47/46 3'33" 03 The Song of Angels (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 34 0'45" 04 interlude (Orlando Gibbons) [Song 13] 0'22" 05 Thine for ever! (Antony Pitts) 1'29" 06 Amen 0'22" songs of love 07 The First Canticle (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 9 2'18" 08 The Fifth Canticle (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 13 2'47" 09 The Sixth Canticle (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 14 4'11" 10 The Tenth Canticle (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 18 1'29" 11 Thy way, not mine (John Michael Pitts) 2'01" 12 Amen 0'23" songs of sacrifice 13 There is a green hill far away (Antony Pitts) 3'45" 14 interlude [There is a green hill far away] (Antony Pitts) 0'51" 15 Take my life (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) [Song 13] 3'54" 16 Amen 0'24" songs of lamentation 17 Lord, who by Thy perfect offering (Antony Pitts) 1'02" 18 Lamentation I (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.L'Estrange) Song 24 4'41" 19 The Lamentation of David (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.L'Estrange) Song 5 2'33" 20 As now the sun's declining rays (Alexander L'Estrange) 1'33" 21 Amen 0'30" songs of triumph 22 The First Song of Moses (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 1 2'02" 23 Lord, who by Thy Resurrection (Antony Pitts) 1'06" 24 The Song of Hannah (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 4 2'12" 25 The Song of Deborah (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 3 2'20" 26 O Lord Most High (Richard James Pitts) 2'39" 27 Amen 0'23" songs of unity 28 Veni Creator (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 44 2'24" 29 St Matthias (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 67 0'56" 30 Veni Creator (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 44 1'07" 31 We are of Thee (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) [Song 1] 1'39" 32 Hark, my soul! (Antony Pitts) 2'06" 33 Amen 0'22" songs of faith 34 Come unto Me (Antony Pitts) 2'27" 35 The Second Song of Isaiah (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 20 0'44" 36 The Prayer of Habakuk (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 31 2'11" 37 interlude (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) [Song 13] 1'07" 38 The Song of the Three Children (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.L'Estrange) Song 41 1'56" 39 Amen 0'22" songs of hope 40 Miserere Domine (Antony Pitts) 1'50" 41 The Prayer of Hezekiah (Orlando Gibbons arr. A.Pitts) Song 22 1'22" 42 Amen 0'24" TOTAL DURATION: 71'40"
TONUS PEREGRINUS Joanna Forbes, Soprano Rebecca Hickey, Soprano Kathryn Oswald, Alto Alexander L’Estrange, Countertenor, Double bass (Mo Clifton, 2002) Richard Eteson, Tenor Alexander Hickey, Tenor Francis Brett, Bass Nick Flower, Bass Antony Pitts, Director, Chamber organ (John Byfield, London 1766, Finchcocks Collection) listen to: "The most fascinating beautiful little piece in all of music" (interview)
LIMELIGHT November 2006 "Glenn Gould's favourite composer was Orlando Gibbons (15831625), a fact not lost on Tonus Peregrinus' director Antony Pitts, who in his booklet notes quotes Gould extensively. Quite apposite, really, because this new recording, the first of all the hymn melodies by Gibbons which George Wither included in his 1623 collection Hymnes and Songs of the Church, shows Pitts and his youthful vocal ensemble to be just as inventive as Gould when playing Gibbons on the piano. Pitts has divided the disc into eight sections to reflect the Church calendar; within each section Gibbons' tunes (arranged by Pitts or countertenor and jazz bassist Alexander L'Estrange), are contrasted with contemporary hymn settings, also by Pitts and L'Estrange. The arrangements utilise four-part harmony, unison singing and solo voices accompanied by organ and/or double bass, so there's plenty of variety from verse to verse. Since Gibbons provides only the melody and bass line, there's also plenty of scope for realising the inner parts. Here Pitts' writing tends to be more melismatic and modally inflected than L'Estrange's but the results are equally beautiful. The original compositions, too, are filled with gentle dissonances and tasteful word-painting - Pitts' Miserere Domine is particularly fine. Tonus Peregrinus' luminous sound is matched by its nearperfect intonation and a real empathy for both music and texts. Those familiar with its previous recordings will know what to expect." CROSS RHYTHMS 5 November 2006 9/10 "...this is more than a museum piece as Antony Pitts, the director and organist of Tonus Peregrinus, and Alexander L'Estrange, the counter-tenor and double-bassist, have used Gibbons' 1623 original as a resource and trigger. The songs are arranged into eight sequences that follow the Church's year from the "Songs Of Joy" at Advent to the "Songs Of Hope" at All Saints' Day when we consider the life to come. The collection is interleaved with original compositions from the Pitts family as well as new settings of old favourites such as There Is A Green Hill Far Away in the style of Gibbons. The singing is first class throughout and the arrangements are beautifully done. This budget-priced disc must be of interest to any listener who enjoys choral singing either ancient or post-modern."
THE GRAMOPHONE 'Truth in the inward parts' as Pitts and Co offer an intriguing harmony lesson "...a valuable documentary for anyone interested in the early development of English hymnody. The collection consists of the melodies and their bass parts, leaving the organist (or even the choir) to improvise the middle parts.... Antony Pitts and Alexander L'Estrange have excelled in fulfilling this task, illustrating both the customary techniques of Gibbons and his generation and introducing some modern, even contemporary harmonizations. We hear Gibbons's attractive and familiar melodies in many guises.... There are also a few examples of new compositions by L'Estrange, Pitts and his younger brothers..."
MUSIC & VISION RECORD BOX 31 October 2006 Gentle Chromaticism "...very attractively and cleverly arranged in a series of eight sequences, each rounded off with a different setting of Amen [listen -- track 27, 0:00-0:15] all drawn from the collection of director Antony Pitts whose family devised them, and many others, for their own mealtimes [listen -- track 33, 0:00-0:13].
The sequences include Pitts' realisations of all the Gibbons Songs (except the few that are sung as unison lines) beautifully interspersed with original hymns by Antony Pitts, his two brothers John and James, and Alexander L'Estrange, the countertenor of the ensemble - and all with delightful stylistic and devotional cohesion. The gentle chromaticism that invades both the Gibbons arrangements and the new pieces assists each sequence to flow from then to now successfully, and in one case now was just three weeks before the recording session when Antony Pitts completed Hark, my soul! [listen -- track 32, 1:01-1:33] This new hymn ends the sixth sequence, Songs of unity.
Gibbons was an all time favourite composer of Glenn Gould, who was most fond of the hymn Song of Angels included in the group representing joy [listen -- track 3, 0:00-0:45] sounding well with inner parts by Pitts who also plays the chamber organ -- upon which there are occasional interludes based on the Gibbons melodies.
Other groups represent love, sacrifice, lamentation, triumph, faith and hope, that last short sequence including the Prayer of Hezekiah, one of several for which George Wither provided words, followed by the final Amen [listen -- track 41, 0:43-1:22 and track 42, 0:00-0:17].
Some Gibbons songs make more than one appearance; No 13 in the Wither collection for instance is presented with two texts, one by Wither and the other by Frances Havergal, and is also used twice in contrasting organ interludes. The only small doubt in the Wither collection is whether Gibbons did write his 17th contribution, When one among the Twelve there was [listen -- track 29, 0:00-0:30] for it had appeared a few years earlier in a Welsh Psalter by Edmund Prys. But it matters little, and the Pitts arrangement is neatly made." (Patric Standford) CLASSICSTODAY.COM artistic quality 9/9 sound quality "Fans of Orlando Gibbons' church music will be pleased with this generously filled program, which purports to contain 'all of the hymn melodies ascribed to Gibbons' and included in George Wither's 1623 collection Hymns and Songs of the Church. The English chamber vocal ensemble Tonus Peregrinus and its director Antony Pitts have made a fine impression in several earlier recordings (particularly their ambitious Naxos Book of Carols project and their award-winning version of Arvo Pärt's Passio), and they offer the same high standard of performance here. This is uniformly well-balanced ensemble singing, tonally rich, vibrant, and clearly articulated, and the straightforward style perfectly suits Gibbons' functional, easily singable tunes. Throughout, Gibbons' original melodies and bass lines are fully realized by contributions of inner parts by various arrangers--primarily director Pitts. Sometimes these settings are strictly traditional, but often Pitts and his colleagues take us into entirely new (for Gibbons), strikingly modern harmonic territory. There are a half dozen or so original pieces by Pitts and others among the 42 tracks, most of which have some direct textual or thematic link to Gibbons and the celebrations of the church year. In addition, the program is very intelligently organized with an ear toward key transitions from one track to the next--and with a sense of how to hold interest with so much "block-harmony" style. Both chamber organ and double bass are used now and then (although I can't figure out the rationale for the latter in this context), and the program's eight sections are separated by 'Amen' interludes apparently arising from a Pitts family mealtime tradition. Besides the various settings of Gibbons' beloved hymn known as 'Song 1', highlights include the delightfully jazzy hymn by Alexander L'Estrange 'As now the sun's declining rays' and the subsequent 'Amen'. And, hooray(!), Naxos handily displays track listings on the back cover of the CD booklet!" THE TELEGRAPH Classical CD of the Week 02/09/2006 "This disc is an ingenious solution to the problem of making an attractive recording out of a corner of Orlando Gibbons's output which, though very tiny, is far from insignificant. Indeed, it may well be true that the 18 melodies he contributed to the poet George Wither's 1623 collection of Hymnes and Songs of the Church are much more widely familiar than even the best known of his larger works. Antony Pitts and Alexander L'Estrange have made a splendid job of arranging the tunes in different ways, sometimes with impeccable 17th-century harmonies, full of luscious false relations and richly ornamented, sometimes in more up-to-date and imaginative styles that suit them very well. The use of solo voice and double bass to introduce the Lamentations-based How Sad and Solitary is particularly effective, and Tonus Peregrinus bring an air of suitably restrained sensuality to the settings of texts drawn from the Song of Songs. Some of the melodies appear several times in various ingenious guises, and the programme is a fine tribute to the durability and versatility of Gibbons's strong and dignified tunes." NAXOS PRESS RELEASE: "We have come to expect great things from TONUS PEREGRINUS, one of the leading small choirs of today..."
"Since my childhood I have been aware that the music that moves me most stems from chorales and hymns." So said Glenn Gould in an interview with Bruno Monsaingeon in 1979,"Indeed I always said the most fascinating beautiful little piece in all of music is a hymn by Orlando Gibbons, by the name Thus Angels Sang. I couldn't count the times I've let these bars wander through my mind, or how often I've played them on the piano, or how often I've listened to the Deller Consort sing them - hundreds, probably thousands of times." This present disc is believed to be the first complete recording of all of the hymn melodies ascribed to Orlando Gibbons and included in [The] Hymnes and Songs of the Church published by George Wither in 1623. 1623 was also the year that John Donne wrote in Meditation XVII from his Devotions upon Emergent Occasions: "The church is Catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that head which is my head too, and ingrafted into that body whereof I am a member". It is in the spirit of Donne's famous meditation that we have approached this recording, arranging the Gibbons melodies in eight short sequences that broadly cover the unfolding of the Church's liturgical year; each sequence is garnished with a recent musical offshoot of the English hymn-writing tradition, linked directly to the performers on this disc. George Wither was a colourful character, and like Donne distinctly English in tenacity and in the tension between worldly pursuits and spiritual devotion. Both men spent time in prison - Donne for secretly marrying his boss's 16 year-old niece and Wither twice for writing satirical material which upset the establishment. Although Wither has neither the reputation nor the genius of Donne, he can certainly be celebrated for creating one of the very earliest prototypes of an English hymnal. The Hymnes and Songs of the Church, and Wither's own 1621 precursor to it, the Songs of the Old Testament, translated into English Measures, follow on from a Reformation-led interest in metrical versions of the Psalms in the vernacular; a famous English example from half a century earlier is Archbishop Parker's Psalter complete with Thomas Tallis's adaptable musical settings. Hymns and "spiritual songs" have been part of Christian worship since New Testament times, specifically described by Paul in his letter to the Colossians (3:16) as two creative outlets alongside the (by then) one-thousand-year-old Jewish tradition of psalm-singing. Famous saints Ambrose in the 4th century, Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th, and Thomas Aquinas in the 13th have all contributed hymns that are still in use today (often in English translations by diligent 19th-century scholars and hymn-writers). Completely new texts, such as the hymn to the Holy Trinity that was discovered with musical notation on a papyrus at Oxyrhyncus, appeared from the first centuries of the Christian Era, while the primary source for much of the new poetry continued to be the Psalms and other Biblical texts; George Wither's 1623 collection combines both these strands of hymnody, as its full title explains: "The hymnes and songs of the Church diuided into two parts. The first part comprehends the canonicall hymnes, and such parcels of Holy Scripture as may properly be sung, with some other ancient songs and creeds. The second part consists of spirituall songs, appropriated to the seuerall times and occasions obserueable in the Church of England". And the connection to the Psalms was both historic and literal: Wither's publication was initially granted a royal monopoly to be "bound up with every copy of the authorized metrical psalms on sale" (in various printed formats), thus bringing together the Apostle Paul's three categories of musical worship in one volume. However, the terms hymn and song cause some confusion: Gibbons' tunes are known as Song 1 etc., yet we think of them as hymns. A distinction between public and private worship is hinted at by Wither, but in the blurred practice of the intervening centuries there remains little difference for us today, and for the rest of this booklet the terms are used interchangeably. Orlando Gibbons was baptized in Oxford in 1583 and died in 1625 in Canterbury, a member of the Chapel Royal and Organist at Westminster Abbey. As well as being Glenn Gould's favourite composer of all time, Gibbons was a very fine organist (the "best finger of that age"), but his musical contribution to the Hymnes and Songs of the Church is extremely simple: fifteen or so tunes (depending on how you count them), made up from various overlapping formulae, and underpinned with straightforward basslines. The inner parts (if any) are left to the imagination of singers and instrumentalists. On this recording we have adopted a wide variety of approaches: from unadorned melody via pastiche to exuberantly postmodern counterpoint. We have also varied both the use of the bass and the organ (one of the earliest English chamber organs in use today), and of the acoustic; the recording was partly made in a parish church, and partly in the more intimate environment of a home, albeit a large one. The new hymns, by Alexander L'Estrange and myself, and two of my younger brothers, serve both to vary the palette and to show the continuing influence of Hymnes and Songs of the Church on hymn-writing today.
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