IoS classical review: Parsons/White/Byrd, Where Late the sweet Birds sang- Magnificat/Philip Cave (Linn)

Compiled by the singer/musicologist Sally Dunkley and conducted by tenor Philip Cave, Magnificat’s latest disc traces the survival of the Latin motet in the 1560s and 1570s.

Byrd, Parsons and White were contemporaries, and the influence of Thomas Tallis, Byrd’s teacher, can be felt in the purity of each composer’s word-setting. From the aching lines of White’s “Lamentations” to the deep groan of Byrd’s “Domine”, the blend is beautifully relaxed and natural.