Gotham Early Music Scene (10/5/23)

Vox Fidelis

Byrd 400 – Mass for Five Voices

Timothy Smith ~ director and tenor; Marisa Curcio & Carey Hackett ~ sopranos; Candice Helfand-Rogers & Gloria Kierniesky ~ altos; Sam Denler ~ tenor; Les Anders & Erik Potteiger ~ basses

O Lord, Make Thy Servant Elizabeth – William Byrd (ca. 1543–1623)
Mass for Five Voices – Kyrie; Gloria; Credo; Sanctus & Benedictus; Agnus Dei – William Byrd

I went into this concert thinking ‘oh, an old favorite; I’m looking forward to this.’ Whoops! I didn’t recognize it at all. I’m guessing now that I got it confuzzled with Byrd’s Mass for Four Voices. That said, I had a hard time discerning five voices. Maybe the sopranos were split? Maybe others?

Anyhow, I really enjoyed the concert. The opening introductory was pleasant, if a bit fawning (obeisance to royalty). 

The mass was fairly standard. The Gloria and Credo each had an incipit (a sung introduction of the first line of text). In this case, it was by one of the basses—I’m used to it being sung by a tenor. (Usually me.) 

The mass was pretty straightforward and progressed without applause between movements. In fact, even though this was a concert, it seemed a bit odd applauding at the end, since it was the end of what was essentially a church service. In a church. But applaud we did. My only drawback was that with only eight voices, the move toward louder dynamics seemed a bit forced. A minor drawback.

Would I hear these eight voices again? In a New York minute. Oh, the 400 reference is that this year is the 400th anniversary of William Byrd’s. death. Weird, I know, but there you are.

ConcertMeister