# Masses by English Composers



## flamencosketches

Somehow, I don't think I've heard a single mass by an English composer other than Walter Frye's Missa Flos Regalis. I would like to hear more. What are your favorite masses by English composers? Any suggestions from the Renaissance to the Modern would be appreciated.


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## RICK RIEKERT

Taverner's and Tye's Western Wynde masses
Byrd's 3 masses
Ralph Vaughan Williams' Mass in G minor 
James Whitbourn's Son of God Mass


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## Mandryka

flamencosketches said:


> Somehow, I don't think I've heard a single mass by an English composer other than Walter Frye's Missa Flos Regalis. I would like to hear more. What are your favorite masses by English composers? Any suggestions from the Medieval to the Modern would be appreciated.


The christmas mass from the Winchester Troper recorded by Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge

Anonymous Missa Quem malignus spiritus (In The Binchois Consort, _Music for Henry V_)

John Taverner, Missa Corona Spinea

Thomas Ashwell, Missa Ave Maria (Recordings by Nevel and Schmelzer)

Nicholas Ludford, Missa Sabato (In La Quintina, _Heavenly Songs_)

Robert Fayrfax Missa Tecum Principium

Leonal Power Missa Alma Redemptoris Mater (I like Trio Medieval in this) 
Brian Ferneyhough, Missa Brevis

There you go, that should keep you out of trouble for a few weeks.


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## science

flamencosketches my brother you are about to encounter a lot of beautiful music!


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## starthrower

I don't know about actual masses but I enjoy the choral music of Gerald Finzi including Intimations of Immortality, and Dies Natalis. There were some budget 5 disc English composer sets on EMI. One of which included Finzi. They may have been re-issued on Warner Classics.


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## flamencosketches

starthrower said:


> I don't know about actual masses but I enjoy the choral music of Gerald Finzi including Intimations of Immortality, and Dies Natalis. There were some budget 5 disc English composer sets on EMI. One of which included Finzi. They may have been re-issued on Warner Classics.


I was just talking to someone on another board about Finzi. I think it's time for me to give his music another chance. I've only heard one work of his, the Eclogue, which I did not like. But I am curious about his choral music.


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## Allegro Con Brio

flamencosketches said:


> I was just talking to someone on another board about Finzi. I think it's time for me to give his music another chance. I've only heard one work of his, the Eclogue, which I did not like. But I am curious about his choral music.


Try the gorgeous Intimations of Immortality and; for instrumental music, the Cello Concerto, which is possibly my favorite 20th century concerto for the instrument besides Shostakovich. It's luxurious!


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## regenmusic

There is a certain English sound to it, like you typically get when English Renaissance or church scenes are in movies or TV.





The Three Masses. William Byrd (1542 - 1623)


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## elgar's ghost

One substantial setting and a couple for those who prefer them shorter and/or non-orchestral:

Howells - _An English Mass_ (1955):

Britten - _Missa Brevis_ (1959):

Walton - _Missa Brevis_ (1966):

Peter Maxwell Davies composed two Mass settings for choir and organ but I've yet to hear them.


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## Guest002

Can I second the Britten _Missa Brevis_.

And I know it's not a Mass, but I'd also suggest the Festival Te Deum by the same composer.


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## Manxfeeder

regenmusic said:


> The Three Masses. William Byrd (1542 - 1623)


If you find these three interesting, you might want to at least hear once the Hilliard Ensemble. The Tallis Scholars are opulent in their sound, and they're my preferred recording, but these masses are meant for small, hidden gatherings of a few persecuted people, and the Hilliard's reduced size gives the sense of how these really sounded in their time.


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