Christ’s Chapel of Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift
Sunday 9 July 2023
Andrew Benson-Wilson
plays music by
William Byrd (c1540-1623)

The sixte pavian Kinbrugh Goodd – The galliarde to the same BK32
Coranto BK21a
A Grounde BK9
Wolsey’s Wylde BK37
Fancy (Salve Regina?) BK46
Clarifica me Pater in three & four parts BK48/49
John Bull (1562-1628) Salve Regina Misere Cordi
(Salve Regina – Ad te Clamamas – Eia ergo – O Clemens – O dulcis virgo Maria)

This is the first of two related recitals celebrating the 400th anniversary of William Byrd, who died 400 years ago on 6 July 1623. This recital focuses on Byrd’s music in its different guises and genres, concluding with a piece by John Bull. ‘Byrd’s World’, on Tuesday 1 August in St George’s, Hanover Square at 1:10, will set two of Byrd’s finest keyboard pieces in the context of music of other composers of the time.

The first group of pieces represent Byrd’s music in its most intimate chamber context, intended for domestic performance on virginals or a small house organ. The Kinborough Good Pavan and Galliard are named after the daughter of a doctor from Malden in Surrey. Unusually, the Pavan is based on a 16-bar rather than an 8-bar structure. It follows the usual three sections form, each with a varied repeat. The Coranto is a triple-time Renaissance dance that later became a key component of the Baroque dance suite.

Although he never left England, Byrd was knowledgeable about continental musical styles. In his early childhood, he almost certainly met the Spanish organist composer Antonio de Cabezón who spent time in England with King Philip of Spain. Cabezón was a pioneer of variation form which Byrd further developed. The Grounde is one of several similar examples found in Forster’s Virginal Book (the other Byrd pieces are from My Ladye Nevells Booke and the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book). It is probably an early work, and displays an experimental approach to harmony, helped by the distinctive first two chords of the repeated four-bar ground bass over which he develops a series of melodic and contrapuntal ideas. Wolsey’s Wild is another example of variation form. It is based on a folk melody originally called Wilson’s Wild and may refer to Henry VIII’s Cardinal Wolsey who had every reason to be wild. It follows a similar structure to the Pavan, with three sections each with a variation.

In 1597 Thomas Morley described the Fantasia (or Fancy) as a piece where “a musician taketh a point at his pleasure, and wresteth and turneth is as he list”. The large-scale Fancy reflects that rather anarchic form in its seemingly unrelated sequence of musical ideas, including an almost martial chordal passage. Although there is no evidence for this, and I have found no other references to it, I have often wondered if the opening theme is a reference to the Salve Regina chant. This might fit with a composition date during Byrd’s youthful time as organist of Lincoln Cathedral, where he was sanctioned for playing organ pieces that were too long and too loud!

The two settings of the chant Clarifica me Pater (incorrectly called Miserere in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book) demonstrate the rhythmically complex style of liturgical keyboard composition of Byrd’s teacher, Thomas Tallis. The chant theme is heard in the treble voice in the three-part setting and in the alto in the four-part setting.

John Bull’s Salve Regina Misere Cordi is found in a curious little manuscript in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna. It is clearly intended for the much larger organ that Bull played in Antwerp Cathedral, rather than the small English organ of the time. It has five movements, which would have been played between alternate verses of sung chant as part of the Catholic liturgy.

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Andrew Benson-Wilson specialises in the performance of early music. His playing is informed by his experience of historic organs, an understanding of period performance techniques and by several internationally renowned teachers. He has recorded the complete organ works of Thomas Tallis. One of his Tallis CDs, with plainchant verses sung by Chapelle du Roi was Gramophone Magazine’s ‘Record of the Month’. The Organists’ Review commented that his “understanding of the historic organ is thorough, and the beautifully articulated, contoured result here is sufficient reason for hearing this disk. He is a player of authority in this period of keyboard music.”

Andrew’s recitals have ranged from the enormous 1642 Festorgel organ in Klosterneburg Abbey and the famous 1562 Ebert organ in the Innsbruck Hofkirche, to a tiny 1668 chamber organ in a medieval castle in Croatia and the 1723 ‘Bach’ organ in Störmthall, Leipzig. One reviewer wrote that his recital in London’s St John’s, Smith Square was “one of the most rewarding organ recitals heard in London in years, an enthralling experience”. Recent recitals have included Christ Church Spitalfields and a special Handel concert in St George’s, Hanover Square for The Handel Friends. Two of his earlier recitals at Christ’s Chapel were for the 2014 Dulwich Festival and a special concert to celebrate the 400^th anniversary of Christ’s Chapel and the Alleyn Foundation.

Andrew is also a writer on music topics. His little book, The Performance of Early Organ Music is ‘a gentle introduction to techniques of performance’ and is used as a required text in a number of Universities. He is also a reviewer, formally writing for the specialist international magazine, Early Music Review and now reviewing on his own website: http://www.andrewbensonwilson.org. He is an elected member of The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain, and the Council of the National Early Music Association. Andrew’s next London recital, Byrd’s World, is on Tuesday 1 August in St George’s, Hanover Square at 1:10.