Music of the Spheres: Partsongs of the British Isles

To celebrate the launch of their latest disc, Tenebrae brings you a Century of the Glories of Partsong ranging from exquisite miniatures about the natural world and human experience to complex masterpieces marrying text and song.

Shakespeare, Shelley, Byron, Tennyson and Milton are the inspiration of renowned composers such as Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Holst and others; the programme being crowned with a performance of Parry’s evocative Songs of Farewell. This music is liberated by its lack of instrumental accompaniment, able to rejoice in the polyphonic ideals of a cappella choral writing and the craftsmanship and imagination of its creators. The Partsong, like its older cousin the Madrigal, has often been viewed as the poor relation to the Motet and the Mass and while it might be said that the devil has some of the best tunes, the secular world can at least hold its own in this sublime musical art.