Overview

On Christmas Day 1554 the Spanish Armada was a long way off on the horizon. Mary Tudor had married Prince Philip of Spain, and in celebration of her pregnancy Tallis had composed the Mass Puer natus, which may well have been performed in St Paul's Cathedral on this special day. For this splendid ceremony the English Chapel Royal and choir of St Paul's were joined by Prince Philip of Spain's Capilla Flamenca to sing music by great composers from both countries. This recording presents a number of works which were likely to have been performed by these choirs on this special occasion.

In due time it had to be accepted that the Queen had suffered a phantom pregnancy. Three years later Philip was King of Spain; Mary died the following year.

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

"An irrepressibly joyous performance of the exultant Jubilate Deo by Manchicourt, a Flemish member of Philip's Capilla Flamenca, gets the programme off to a splendid start...The highlights of the home side's contribution include Tallis's monumental seven-part penitential motet Suscipe quaeso, and one of the finest pieces in the entire repertoire of English sacred polyphony, Sheppard's ethereal and visionary Libera nos, to whose gloriously soaring high-soprano lines The Sixteen do full justice."
The Daily Telegraph

"All hail the über-choir ..."
The Independent