10/10 for Cantiones Sacrae on the Web

"David Skinner and his Alamire vocal ensemble are building an impressive discography, and this new recording begins a new project—a 30-volume Library of English Music from the High Middle Ages to the Commonwealth. Here they present Tallis and Byrd’s Cantiones Sacrae “in its entirety” and “in the original order intended by the composers.” For these performances Skinner drew from an original copy of the 1575 set of “sacred songs”, plus reputable modern editions of the music. For practical reasons, some transpositions of pitch and other adjustments were required for modern performance, and Skinner explains the details of his decisions in the excellent liner notes. As we’ve come to expect from this group, the singing and style are as well-wrought, finely tuned, and expressively interpreted as we could hope for. And the sound, from the ideal acoustics of Fitzalan Chapel at Arundel Castle, complements and enlivens music that indeed might have been heard in this private family chapel back in the composers’ own time."