The Byrd masses have received a pretty fair shake on recordings; almost no one who shouldn’t record them has foisted a mediocre performance on the CD-buying public. Everyone from The Tallis Scholars to the Deller Consort has offered interpretations that range from deliberate to sensuous, from meditative to businesslike. The gold standard remains the Tallis Scholars’ sublime readings that may never be surpassed for sheer spiritual power and ideal sound. For me, The Sixteen’s luminous, seamlessly phrased readings of the four- and five-part masses are a close second (Virgin), along with Stephen Darlington’s lucid, bright-toned boys and men of Christ Church Cathedral (Nimbus). Of course, typical of record companies, many of the better performances (The Sixteen, for example) are no longer in the catalog, so it’s fortunate that new versions emerge with some regularity, including a recent, very respectable entry from Parthenia XVI on Centaur (see review).
As much as they may appear so in the score, these are not easy pieces to sing. Phrasing, breath control, and internal balances lay continuous pitfalls before the unwary, unprepared, or unskilled ensemble. You have to understand and have a clear vision of the structure of each movement, knowing the music’s ebb and flow and executing its long lines so that it never seems anything but natural and inevitable. Although I very much liked this same group’s Cantiones Sacrae (see review)–and I really wanted to like these masses–this time around the singers take forever to figure out the phrasing and sectional balances. Not until the five-part mass does everything come together as Byrd should–beautiful, curvy, sensuous, harmonies vibrant and blushing with color, cadences firm and full and closely held. Which means that the three- and four-part works get uneven, effortful treatment that never quite finds its rhythm or footing. The sound is surprisingly timid and lacking in depth. Although there are some nice interpretive touches here involving special emphases, inflections, and other expressive nuances, as a whole the program just doesn’t “fly”. Stick with the Tallis Scholars.
