The regime of Queen Elizabeth I dealt harshly with followers of the old Catholic religion. Torn between obedience and conscience, some of the most talented English musicians - Philips, Dering and Dowland - chose to live in foreign exile. Others decided to remain in spiritual isolation in England and to compare themselves to the exiled Israelites in Babylon. Among them were Robert White, whose five-part lamentations are among the highlights of English musical creation, and William Byrd, whose painful Catholic music is mentioned in Shakespeare's enigmatic poem "The Phoenix and the Turtle", which in turn was vividly scored by Huw Watkins for Stile Antico.
Works:
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Byrd: Quomodo cantabimus
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Byrd: Tristitia et anxietas
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Dering: Factum est silentium
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Dowland: Flow my teares (Lacrimæ)
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Dowland: In this trembling shadow cast
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Monte, P: Super flumina Babylonis
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Philips, P: Gaude Maria virgo
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Philips, P: Guade Maria Virgo
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Philips, P: Regina coeli
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Watkins, H: The Phoenix and the Turtle
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White, Robert: Lamentations 5vv