Byrd's Christ rising

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Grabyrdy
Posts: 4
Joined: 17 Nov 2014 17:04

Byrd's Christ rising

Post by Grabyrdy »

There's a version of this piece, arranged for organ accompaniment, edited by Ross Jallo. "editorial accidentals and slurs added" says the main page. But in fact, it's a completely different version with lots of variants to the Byrd version published in Songs of Sundrie Natures, especially in the tuttis. It would have been nice to know this in advance ! If the edition is not revised by Ross himself, may I ask his source ? And to mention this in the introduction ?
Richard Mix
Posts: 182
Joined: 31 Jan 2010 04:51

Re: Byrd's Christ rising

Post by Richard Mix »

My sympathies! I can see where "version with organ" might be taken at first glance as "arranged for organ accompaniment"; diligent comparison before the first rehearsal can sometimes pay huge dividends. To ask Ross to expand the description he added: "This verse anthem for Easter Sunday exists in several versions, from both before and after its 1589 publication version" you could always leave a note at his user page (I see there's already a note asking him to reply here) or make the wording more explicit yourself. I'd also recommend noting the variants on the talk page: http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Talk ... liam_Byrd)
where they can be easily found by other users.
Ross Jallo
Posts: 4
Joined: 15 Apr 2012 02:35

Re: Byrd's Christ rising

Post by Ross Jallo »

My edition is based chiefly on the version of the piece as presented in the Byrd Edition, Vol. 11. Richard Turbet, in William Byrd: A Research and Information Guide, writes about its problematic presentation there, as it is actually cobbled from several sources, including manuscripts dating from before Songs of Sundrie Natures and an organ accompaniment from around 1630:
Exactly in the form printed by Byrd in SSN 1589, for performance by voices and viols, "Christ rising again" is published in BE 13, pp. 251-70. Its presentation as a verse anthem in BE 11 is somewhat factitious. The editor has observed that for publication in SSN 1589 Byrd elected to make a revision of an earlier inaugural version; the vocal parts of this original version can be found in certain manuscript sources, and it is these that are printed in BE 11. With these voice-parts, however, there are printed not the contemporary viol parts but the organ accompaniment found in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Tenbury 791, fo. 215v. Thus the edition conflates vocal parts from the early 1580s with an organ part created, at least in respect of church use, not before the later 1620s. The church verse anthem version is conveyed in no source or date earlier than c.1630.
My editing consisted of:
1. transposing the piece back to its original notated key (it is transposed up a minor third in the Byrd Edition)
2. halving the note values
3. adding slurs and suggested ficta
4. replacing the original "Amen" with the one found in Songs of Sundrie Natures (and adjusting the organ part accordingly).

As the work's page on CPDL says, the work exists in several forms, and indeed, these can vary considerably from the one published in Songs of Sundrie Natures. I'll make it clear that my edition is not compatible with the other two hosted on CPDL.
Grabyrdy
Posts: 4
Joined: 17 Nov 2014 17:04

Re: Byrd's Christ rising

Post by Grabyrdy »

Many thanks for clearing it up. BE11 certainly seems a bit wrong-headed. And I thought we'd grown out of the minor-third up stuff ! So well done for putting it back where it was. It must be said that the final chorus of SSN, in 6 real parts instead of 5, is superior.

btw, I've spotted an error in Sabine Cassola's otherwise immaculate version : bar 113, top part, note 1 should be a g, tied to the g at the end of the previous bar. The word life should be placed on the following e.
Richard Mix
Posts: 182
Joined: 31 Jan 2010 04:51

Re: Byrd's Christ rising

Post by Richard Mix »

Proofreading comments are very welcome; you can leave them on the workpage (as I've just done) using {{ScoreError|(optional short description in lieu of talkpage listing)}}
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