Civitas Sancti Tui - Byrd

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  • Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
  • The King's Singers singing William Byrd's Civitas Sancti Tui. One of my favourite recordings of this piece. You will note the key difference (starting note a 3rd lower) but unfortunately I havent been able to source a written score at that pitch.
    Score from cpdl.org

Комментарии • 65

  • @seaotter4439
    @seaotter4439 6 лет назад +36

    The part that really gets me is the switch from polyphony to chordal harmony during the "Sion Deserta" part.

  • @jeffholston5443
    @jeffholston5443 6 лет назад +23

    Saddest piece I know of written in a major key!

  • @marshalivingston3120
    @marshalivingston3120 6 лет назад +15

    Our choir sang this last Lent. It's the saddest thing I have ever sung in my life. I LOVED it.

  • @mentispotens8464
    @mentispotens8464 Год назад +1

    How appropriate for today's state of Catholic Church.

  • @IsaacAsimov1992
    @IsaacAsimov1992 7 лет назад +20

    The closest I come to being religious is when I listen to music like this.

  • @ykalantzis
    @ykalantzis 4 года назад +6

    Oh ,the divine bass line ...Thank you

  • @andrewm9221
    @andrewm9221 3 года назад +1

    Heavenly Father,
    you have taught us that in loving you and our fellow men and women
    we keep your commandments:
    Give us the spirit of grace and peace
    that we, united to one another in brotherly and sisterly love,
    may serve you with our whole heart;
    through Jesus Christ our Lord.
    Amen.

  • @GBPHuddlestone
    @GBPHuddlestone 6 лет назад +5

    Thank you for this. IT is overwhelming in its sense of loss.

  • @alexandracolmant9983
    @alexandracolmant9983 7 лет назад +8

    What a perfect recording of this piece!

  • @stephenkunst7550
    @stephenkunst7550 9 месяцев назад

    Everything is great, about this recording, though I wish the microphones were not so close. We hear none of the room in which they are singing. Reflected sound is too often seen as the enemy of text or tonal clarity. Its why so many concert halls have no reverb and people want to sit inches from the instrumentalists.

  • @therealzilch
    @therealzilch 5 лет назад +1

    A great piece (but when is Byrd not great?), very nicely sung. But I don't quite believe that E sharp in the soprano on the second beat of measure 22- even for Byrd that would have been a bizarre chromaticism.

  • @JR15491
    @JR15491 4 года назад +5

    Suddenly so timely in these days of the Coronavirus.

    • @Justanotherconsumer
      @Justanotherconsumer 4 года назад

      Lamentations is a brutal book to read.
      The commentaries even specify one example of a mother eating her children (which is referred to in the book), so they very likely they didn’t mean it metaphorically.
      We’re not there yet. May we be so lucky as to never see that kind of horror in any lifetime yet to come.

    • @ppjjazz8885
      @ppjjazz8885 3 года назад

      @@Justanotherconsumer unfortunately, we do. abortion isn't cannibalism, but it is still murder a mother commits against her very children, and even worse, it is accepted and welcomed

    • @Justanotherconsumer
      @Justanotherconsumer 3 года назад

      @@ppjjazz8885 Serious crises compared to political hackers and nonsense issues manipulated to whip up support for those who want high birth rates so that they can treat human life as cheap and disposable.
      Opposition to abortion is not really a pro-life stance.
      Pro-birth nonsense is there to keep population numbers high so that when hundreds of thousands die, they’re “acceptable losses.”

  • @treesarecool12345678
    @treesarecool12345678 11 лет назад +4

    another absolute gem of the renaissance. Thank you Mr Byrd

  • @Salvejohnny93
    @Salvejohnny93 11 месяцев назад +1

    Tears. Tears every time.

  • @missasinenomine
    @missasinenomine 5 лет назад +3

    Bow thine ear O Lord.

  • @ransomcoates546
    @ransomcoates546 3 года назад +1

    I like the proper English pronunciation of Latin for the period.

  • @chrisdoeller7332
    @chrisdoeller7332 6 лет назад +3

    Right up there with Tallis' Lamentations.

  • @HappyHauptwerk
    @HappyHauptwerk 9 лет назад +3

    Utterly beautiful part writing and interpretation.

  • @holapeople24
    @holapeople24 11 лет назад +2

    my favorite Byrd piece. It just displays so much emotion....

  • @treesarecool12345678
    @treesarecool12345678 11 лет назад +5

    Bar 22 in the sop line (that David Hurley is singing beautifully) should have an E#, not an E natural. It's a widely disputed note this, no knows what Byrd actually wrote

  • @апостолмандарин
    @апостолмандарин 9 лет назад +3

    Я слушаю, знакомые какие-то голоса, это оказывается кингс сингерс уиии, спасибо

  • @Justanotherconsumer
    @Justanotherconsumer 4 года назад

    Reading the book of Lamentations is a pretty bleak experience.
    There is one bit in the third chapter that’s a little bit optimistic, and there’s some of it that’s bitter and vengeful, but the big picture of the book is “this is horrible and we deserve every moment of it.”

  • @alexwarstadt6191
    @alexwarstadt6191 6 лет назад +2

    It's hard to imagine a more beautiful performance of this most beautiful motet

    • @andrew01
      @andrew01 4 года назад +1

      Voces8 is fantastic.

  • @mrnnhnz
    @mrnnhnz 3 года назад

    Very very nice. I was singing along with it, and hadn't read your thing about it being performed a 3rd lower than written (a minor third I believe, but still...,) and kept thinking, 'What's wrong with my voice today? Why am I struggling to get those low notes? Then I read that intro...

  •  11 лет назад +2

    me encantan tus videos :)

  • @jeffholston5443
    @jeffholston5443 6 лет назад +1

    Double-inflection at bar 46: a moment of sheer genius

  • @finosuilleabhain7781
    @finosuilleabhain7781 5 лет назад +1

    Great to see this wonderful music being appreciated without any of the nonsense we associate with youtube comments. 9 dislikers so far, which is their loss - but no actual idiots.

  • @timsymons968
    @timsymons968 10 лет назад

    @treesarecool12345678
    Not necessarily. True, the CS1589 print has a sharp at this point, although it may well be a misprint. None of the manuscript sources, which pre-date the print, has a sharp there. The most likely explanation of the sharp is that the clef was mistaken for G2, which would make the note F#, which is obviously highly likely if the line is cadencing onto G. However, the clef is C1, making the note a D#, which is rather less plausible, especially given the harmony.

  • @carlooro7406
    @carlooro7406 11 лет назад +1

    One of my favourites too. Thankyou morphthing1

  • @innocenzobarrera1505
    @innocenzobarrera1505 8 лет назад +1

    meraviglioso!

  • @treesarecool12345678
    @treesarecool12345678 11 лет назад +1

    well said :)

  • @leovanroosbroeck
    @leovanroosbroeck 3 года назад

    Great performance of wonderful music.

  • @AstOak125
    @AstOak125 4 года назад

    Is this stile antico or moderno?

  • @richardtaylor7414
    @richardtaylor7414 3 года назад

    Wonderful resource! RT

  • @missasinenomine
    @missasinenomine 4 года назад

    Lamentations ch.1.

  • @kelvs5245
    @kelvs5245 4 года назад

    Hello from Claret

  • @OmniaOmnibus
    @OmniaOmnibus 10 лет назад +5

    I understand the idea of Renaissance pitch etc etc but it's rather confusing to have the singers in one key and the music in another.

  • @missasinenomine
    @missasinenomine 4 года назад

    Jerusalem was reduced to cannibalism. Lam 4/10 Sad indeed!

    • @Justanotherconsumer
      @Justanotherconsumer 4 месяца назад

      Not necessarily cannibalism for food, but sacrificial rites of the period included eating a piece of the sacrifice to identify with it (the penalty is death, I associate with that which has died and have paid the penalty).
      Sacrificing their own children to try and appease angry divinities (likely not YHWH, who with Isaac demonstrated a rejection of that kind of sacrificial rite).

    • @missasinenomine
      @missasinenomine 4 месяца назад

      @@Justanotherconsumer Jer 19/9. Ez 5/10.
      Sound like cannibalism to me!

  • @TheErakor
    @TheErakor 10 лет назад

    tres beau

  • @MynameJeffX
    @MynameJeffX 5 лет назад

    Translation?

    • @SamuelVerceluz
      @SamuelVerceluz 4 года назад +1

      Civitas sancti tui
      Your holy cities
      Facta est deserta
      have become a wilderness
      Sion deserta facta est
      Zion has become a wilderness
      Jerusalem desolata est.
      Jerusalem has become desolate.

  • @therealzilch
    @therealzilch 5 лет назад +1

    Great stuff. But are you really sure about that E# on the second quarter of the soprano in bar 22? Sounds kinda strange even for Byrd.

    • @TheLawrieP
      @TheLawrieP 5 лет назад +1

      If I remember correctly from the copies I have sung this from, it differs in some historical sources enough to necessitate an editorial decision and so may depend which modern edition is being sung from. Though I agree with you that the E# seems rather outlandish for the period to me

    • @missasinenomine
      @missasinenomine 4 года назад +1

      Yes, I agree. Not sure it's correct.

    • @openmusic3904
      @openmusic3904 3 года назад

      In musical practices of the time period there was a concept and device known as a ‘false-relation’. It sounds strange to the modern ear, but it was a widely accepted principle of theory and composition.
      The use of an e-sharp, in contrast with the f-sharp shortly after, strikes me as a routine false-relation. If I recall, it’s to do with voice-leading.

    • @therealzilch
      @therealzilch 3 года назад +1

      @@openmusic3904 I'm familiar with and sung many false relations, which occur occasionally in Byrd's works and more commonly in Weelkes and Tallis. But I've never heard a major seventh suspension (between soprano and tenor at the beginning of bar 22) "resolve" to an augmented sixth, which is still dissonant against both other voices. It's not the false relation per se that sounds funny, but the strange harmonic motion.
      But maybe it's just me. If you know of any notated examples of this kind of harmonic motion in music of the period, I'd love to see them.

  • @chrishughes5947
    @chrishughes5947 4 года назад

    Anyone know why they sing "Je-rusalem" rather than "Ye-rusalem" as is more traditional?

    • @Zavendea
      @Zavendea 4 года назад

      I think they’re singing with English pronunciation as Byrd was English. Note also “sivitas” not “chivitas” for the first word.

  • @selgeaus
    @selgeaus 10 лет назад +4

    Just a minor thing: Jerusalem's 'J' is supposed to be 'ye'. Other than that and different key, lovely interpretation

    • @YKW2
      @YKW2 10 лет назад +8

      You may have also noticed "sivitas" rather than "chivitas". It's entirely deliberate; my assumption is that this is how Latin is thought to have been sung in Byrd's time.

    • @cuipertinebit1382
      @cuipertinebit1382 9 лет назад +7

      YKW2 Yes, the pronunciation of Latin in England was softer than in Italy, and we see this in the way that words were often "misspelled" (rather, followed a different spelling convention) in England. For example, both "t" before io, and "c," before i or e, are often rendered alike as "c" in Latin manuscripts of the British Isles. So, for example, "dicite in nacionibus," rather than "dicite in nationibus," where the pronunciation would have been "dee-see-tay in nah-see-oh-nee-boos," rather than the Italian pronunciation of "dee-chee-tay in nah-tsee-oh-nee-boos." It's why the "tion" suffix in English is still pronounced "shun" (as in nation) whereas the "tione" suffix in Italian is spelled with a g or z (depending) and pronounced "tsee-oh-nay" (as in nazione) or "joh-nay" (as in ragione). Or, why the "c" is soft in English "citizen," but aspirated in Italian "cittadino."

    • @ido9988
      @ido9988 4 года назад +1

      @@YKW2 Yes, this is the traditional English pronounciation of Latin. It's very much similar to how Latin words are pronounced in modern English.
      Today when people learn latin, they are usually taught the reconstructed classical pronounciation, which is the result of linguists using the existing evidence to deduce how the Romans spoke in ancient times, but in most recording of church music what you hear is the Italianate pronounciation, which was standardized by the Vatican in the 19th century. During Byrd's time, however, every country and region had it's own tradition based on its spoken language.
      If you are interested, here is how it would sound in classical latin:
      Keewitahs sahnctee tuee facta est dehsohlahtus.
      Sion dehsertus facta est,
      Hieroosalehm dehsohlahta est.

  • @isaiahbaggett2758
    @isaiahbaggett2758 8 лет назад +1

    This is in sung E not G

    • @abracadaverous
      @abracadaverous 8 лет назад

      +isaiah baggett Yeah, that was distracting me, and I don't even have absolute pitch.

    • @asimong
      @asimong 7 лет назад +1

      Or maybe it's F at baroque pitch?

    • @albertklassik
      @albertklassik 6 лет назад

      Because it's sung only by men. I think these are the King's Singers.