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	In collaboration with and with the support of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC

Stile Antico:
Christmas Music from Tudor England

“Puer natus est”: Stile Antico’s programme celebrating the Advent and Christmas

Recently established as one of the most original and exciting new voices in its field, Britain’s vocal ensemble Stile Antico makes its first appearance in Vancouver. Their programme is centred around Thomas Tallis’s magnificent 7-part Mass, written for the combined choirs of the Spanish and English Chapels Royal, and first performed in December 1554. Based on the Christmas plainsong ‘Puer natus’ – ‘a boy is born’ – it celebrated not only the Advent season, but also the apparent pregnancy of Queen Mary. The Mass is interspersed with contemporary liturgical settings for Advent and Christmas, from the perfect miniatures of William Byrd’s Propers for the fourth Sunday of Advent to Robert White’s extended Magnificat and John Sheppard’s extraordinary Verbum Caro.

Stile Antico’s most recent recording, Puer natus est (the programme to be performed in Vancouver), has received the prize for Best Choral Recording at the most recent edition of the Edison Awards in The Netherlands, beating off strong competition from the Monteverdi Choir and Latvian Radio Choir.

Concert Details and Ticket Information

			Monday evening, December 5, 2011 at 8:00 pm
			No Pre-Concert Introduction
			Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC
			6265 Crescent Road | directions

for information on Ticket Prices and Seating Plans.

PLEASE NOTE: Tickets for this performance, at $63, $48 and $32 (students & seniors $3 discount) including HST are only available at the Chan Centre Ticket Office, or through Ticketmaster: 1-855-985-ARTS (2787) or www.ticketmaster.ca. (Note: Surcharges apply to orders made through Ticketmaster).

Rush Seats for Students with valid ID on sale for $10, at the door only, from 7:00 pm on the evening of the concert.

This concert is included in our “Bring a Youth for Free” programme.

Plainchant:
Veni Emmanuel

Thomas Tallis (1505-1585):
Videte miraculum

William Byrd (1539/40-1623):
Tollite portas
Thomas Tallis
Gloria - from Missa Puer natus est
William Byrd:
Ave Maria

Robert White:
Magnificat

i n t e r v a l

John Taverner (ca.1490-1545):
Audivi vocem de caelo

Thomas Tallis:
Sanctus and Benedictus - from Missa Puer natus est
William Byrd:
Rorate caeli
Thomas Tallis:
Agnus Dei - from Missa Puer natus est
William Byrd:
Ecce Virgo concipiet

Plainchant:
Puer natus est

John Sheppard:
Verbum Caro

– programme subject to changes

Programme Notes

Thomas Tallis

The backbone of this programme of Advent and Christmas music is Thomas Tallis’s extraordinary, yet incomplete, Christmas mass, Missa Puer natus est. In spite of the work’s phenomenal scope, there is no conclusive evidence as to its origin. One attractive theory holds that the mass was first performed by the joint forces of Queen Mary’s Chapel Royal and Philip II of Spain’s renowned Capilla Flamenca in December 1554 (Philip and Mary had married earlier in the year). It is based on the plainchant Puer natus est nobis – the introit for Christmas Day mass – and it has been suggested that the plainchant may well have held adouble entendre for its first hearers, as Mary was at the time erroneously believed to be pregnant with a much-hoped-for heir. The work’s lavish and unusual seven-part scoring – and the presence of Flemish influences in Tallis’s writing – lend weight to this theory. On the other hand, the question of exactly when the first performance might have taken place presents a problem. We know that such a ‘joint service’ took place at St Paul’s Cathedral on 2nd December, but that is unlikely to have been the occasion on which this mass was performed: Tallis surely knew the difference between Advent and Christmas – and cared! Furthermore, as one scholar has argued, it seems improbable that Tallis “would have been so insensitive as to use a text beginning ‘Puer natus est nobis’ to celebrate the Queen’s rumoured pregnancy when the sex of the child, the survival of both child and mother and the stability of the realm would all have been causes of trepidation rather than rejoicing.” *)

Whatever the work’s original purpose, what is not in doubt is its extraordinary scale, and virtuosic compositional intricacy. The impression it leaves is one of immense grandeur, an effect created at least in part by the steady progression of the cantus firmus, coupled with the almost unbroken use of a seven-part texture throughout. While the manner of his imitation seems to reflect the latest trends of continental composition, the use of a different plainchant melody as a cantus firmus is very much a nod to the conventions of earlier generations. Indeed, Tallis’s treatment of the plainchant is governed by an extraordinarily complex quasi-medieval numerological scheme, whereby each note is assigned a value based on its vowel in the original text. We even hear the melody in retrograde at one point during the mass. This elaborate cantus firmus treatment, Tallis’s varied palette of contrapuntal techniques and the work’s carefully proportioned structure together render this magisterial mass setting one of the most strikingly unusual and innovative works of the period.

The second thread running through the programme is the group of four Byrd Propers – the seasonal liturgical texts set for Votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary during Advent. These come from the Gradualia of 1605, the first of two books in which Byrd set out to provide the recusant Catholic community with a comprehensive array of musical settings of the Mass Propers throughout the year. As was Byrd’s custom in Gradualia, these works are models of concision; each one is perfectly proportioned and compellingly individual, yet Byrd develops his musical ideas over a comparatively short space of time, and is as economical with his use of material as he is efficient in his (mostly syllabic) word setting. Nonetheless, his masterful control of texture ensures that each point of imitation is clearly declaimed.

Perhaps it is Byrd’s tonal resourcefulness and his genius for striking motivic invention that stand out here, though. Tollite portas is a prime example of the latter, where the opening point – festive and fanfare-like as the King of Glory is welcomed through the gates of Heaven – gives way to an ascending scale as the psalmist asks ‘Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?’. Rorate Caeli is similarly memorable for its persistent ascending and descending motifs – as if to illustrate the believer calling up to the heavens, which, in turn, pour down justice. By contrast, the power of Ecce Virgo is in the awe and wonder created by the unexpected shifts in tonality in the opening passage. These lend a palpable sense of anticipation which is only fulfilled at the final return to the tonic key of C minor as the name of the promised child – ‘Emmanuel’ – is revealed. In Ave Maria Byrd creates another striking effect by effectively interrupting the opening platitudes of the angel’s greeting – set to short, graceful phrases in the tonic minor – with an astonishingly luxuriant cadence in the relative major at the claim “the Lord is with thee”. It is as if – just for a moment – he involves us deeply in the emotive power of those words, before readopting a more detached contemplative stance; the final alleluias graciously ooze simplicity itself.

The earliest polyphonic work in the programme, Taverner’s Audivi vocem de caelo follows the common pattern of alternating polyphony and plainchant, and is, liturgically speaking, a responsory for All Saints, though the gospel passage from which the text originates is closely associated with Advent. The piece is striking for its close-knit four-part texture and narrow tessitura, making it particularly suitable for performance by upper voices alone; indeed, there is evidence to suggest that it might have been sung by a quartet of boy trebles. In other respects, the soaring musical language of this piece is very typical of Taverner’s style, though there are also some interesting turns – perhaps most notably the bold passing dissonance in the very first phrase of the polyphony, which results in a peculiarly arresting start to the piece.

If Taverner’s motet is notable for its narrow compass, the opposite can be said for Robert White’s expansive and virtuosic Magnificat, a work which rivals many of John Sheppard’s for its huge range – well over three octaves spread over up to six parts. White’s consistently inventive musical ideas and his imaginative and varied approach to melodic writing render this work a veritable contrapuntal tour-de-force. Again, plainchant verses alternate with counterpoint, but the contrapuntal verses themselves vary in conception: some are scored for full six-part choir, with the plainsong Magnificat tone sung as a cantus firmus in the tenor; others use smaller configurations of voices requiring subdivision of parts, changing at a chosen point in each verse, affording the composer the opportunity to exploit a wonderful diversity of different textures. At one point the plainchant moves to the mean voice; in others it disappears almost completely, left only as a fragmented memory in some points of imitation.

The remaining two works are both based on a strict monorhythmic cantus firmus according to the old tradition: the plainchant appears in regular semibreves in the tenor voice throughout the polyphonic sections of the piece, which alternate with plainchant. The two composers, however, create startlingly different works. Videte miraculum, which opens the programme, is one of Tallis’s most sublime: through careful control of texture and harmonic rhythm, lulling use of repetition on several levels, and a masterfully paced development of motifs, Tallis’s motet effuses an extraordinary sense of rapt adoration, stillness and mystery; to hear it is to stand awestruck before a fine painting of the Virgin and Child. In VerbumCaro, by contrast, Sheppard creates a radiant and sensuously enveloping sound-world spanning a huge vocal range, characterized by thrilling harmonic turns, his uniquely quirky approach to part-writing, and some truly daring sonorities. Never one to sacrifice a thrilling effect on the altar of contrapuntal integrity, Sheppard calls upon his trebles to divide into a three-part gymel at the very end of the polyphony, in order to finish on a glorious eight-part chord.

The Artists

Stile Antico

Stile Antico is an ensemble of young British singers, now established as one of the most original and exciting voices in its field.  Much in demand in concert, the group performs regularly throughout Europe and North America.  Their recordings on the Harmonia Mundi label have enjoyed great success, winning awards including the Diapason d’or de l’année and the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, and have twice attracted GRAMMY nominations. Their recent release Song of Songs won the 2009 Gramophone Award for Early Music and reached the top of the US Classical Chart.

Working without a conductor, the members of Stile Antico rehearse and perform as chamber musicians, each contributing artistically to the musical result. Their performances have repeatedly been praised for their vitality and commitment, expressive lucidity and imaginative response to text.  Stile Antico’s repertoire ranges from the glorious legacy of the English Tudor composers to the works of the Flemish and Spanish schools and the music of the early Baroque.  They are regularly invited to lead courses at Dartington International Summer School, and their commitment to educational work has been recognised through generous funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Stile Antico’s recent engagements include debuts at the BBC Proms, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, early music festivals in Boston, Bruges, Barcelona and Utrecht, and at the Cervantino Festival in Mexico. The group has toured extensively with Sting, appearing across Europe, Australia and the Far East as part of his Dowland project Songs from the Labyrinth.  During 2011, Stile Antico makes its debut at London’s Wigmore Hall, appears at leading festivals throughout Europe and twice tours the United States.