Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) was arguably the greatest composer of the 16th century Spanish ‘golden age’. He began his training as a chorister at Avila Cathedral and when his voice broke he travelled to Rome, where he was to remain for twenty years holding a variety of prestigious posts. He took holy orders in 1575, and was appointed to his first chaplaincy three years later. The fact that Victoria’s musical output was relatively small by the standards of his contemporaries is explained in the constant revisions he made to his works. The Missa Ascendens Christus is a parody-mass, based on Victoria’s own motet of the same name. The joyous and brilliant writing permeates the whole mass, the rising phrases particularly significant. The fact that this work was published five times in his lifetime (first appearing in 1572) gives a good indication of its popularity.

 

Peter Philips (1560–1628), Ascendit Deus

Philips was a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral but in 1582, owing to his Catholic faith, left England for good.  He travelled widely in Europe, working for a time at the English College in Rome, and also enjoying stints in Paris, Madrid, and Genoa before settling in Antwerp where he worked in the service of Thomas, 3rd Baron Paget, an exiled Catholic nobleman.  After Paget’s death, Philips made a living as a keyboard virtuoso and teacher, before eventually moving to the court in Brussels and finally becoming a priest towards the end of his life.  His keyboard works are known for their virtuosity and were widely influential – composers such as Sweelinck and Morley composed sets of variations based on his music – while his choral pieces, including today’s anthem, are more Italianate in style.

 

 

Gerald Finzi’s anthem God is gone up is a perfect marriage of the essence of his style with the English church music tradition. Although often sung during Ascensiontide, it was in fact originally written for a St Cecilia’s Day Service, at the Musicians’ Church of St Sepulchre Holborn in 1951. The words are by Edward Taylor (1646-1729) from his Sacramental Meditations.

 

The previous Director of Music at St Marylebone, Steven Grahl (b. 1975) is now Director of Music at Trinity College Cambridge. His setting of O nata lux was first performed by the choir of St Marylebone Parish Church in October 2012.

 

Text/Translation:

O nata lux de lumine,

Jesu redemptor saeculi,

Dignare clemens supplicum

Laudes precesque sumere.

Qui carne quondam contegi

Dignatus es pro perditis,

Nos membra confer effici

Tui beati corporis.

 

O Light born of Light,

Jesus, redeemer of the world,

with loving-kindness deign to receive

suppliant praise and prayer.

Thou who once deigned to be clothed in flesh

for the sake of the lost,

grant us to be members

of thy blessed body.