- Composer: William Byrd
- Period: Renaissance (1450-1599)
Review
William Byrd was, of course, one of the great masters of Elizabethan vocal music as well as a pioneer in the development of an idiomatic, expressive keyboard style. Only on a handful of occasions, however, did he fuse together these to arenas of musical expression and create works for vocal ensemble with keyboard (specifically organ) accompaniment. The massive verse anthem Christ rising again, scored for six voices and organ, is perhaps the most attractive such work. [The work also survives in a consort song version which seems to be a later reworking of the verse anthem version.]Formally, Christ rising again falls into two completely separate parts (actually printed as individual numbers in most editions, both current and historical), the first being Christ rising again itself and the second being called Christ is risen again. The basic format is familiar to anyone who has ever attended an Anglican service: "verses", as Byrd marks them, for two solo sopranos are set against "choruses" in which all six voices take part fully. The text is as follows, along with indications (in parentheses) of the verse/chorus layout:
Part 1 (V) Christ rising again from the dead, now dieth not. (C) Death from henceforth hath no pow'r upon him, (V/C) for in that he died but once to put away sin, (V) but in that he liveth unto God. (C) And so likewise count yourselves dead unto sin, (C/V/C) but living unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Part 2 (V/C) Christ is risen again, the first fruits of them that sleep, (V/C) for seeing that by man came death, (V) by man also cometh the resurrection of the dead. (C) For as in Adam all men do die, (V/C) so by Christ all men shall be restored to life. (C) Amen. Certainly the nature of the keyboard writing is not very similar to the language or textures that Byrd uses in his purely virginal works. Thick counterpoint introduces and supports each of the duet verses, while during the choruses the instrument serves only to reinforce the lines sung by the vocal ensemble. Until the final two lines of Part 1 each of the choruses is set in a strictly homophonic way that draws a pleasant contrast with the active imitation of the verse portions. Throughout Part 2 the chorus both somewhat more extensively and somewhat more flexibly than it is in the first half of the anthem; the final Amen is simply tacked on at the end of the final chorus, extending and amplifying the satisfying plagal cadence that preceded it.
~ All Music Guide
Albums with Complete Performances of the Work
| Title | Date |
| Byrd: Consort and Keyboard Music; Songs and Anthems | 1994 |
| Byrd: The Great Service | 2005 |
| Christ Rising | 2001 |
