Henry VIII on Tour: Music from Tudor Royal Progresses CD Delphian Records

DCD34335-CD

Henry VIII on Tour: Music from Tudor Royal Progresses

£19.99

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Under Henry VIII, royal progresses were both journeys and sonic experiences. Solemn polyphony accompanied the king’s devotions; jubilant songs rang out in great halls; charming miniatures were shared in the intimacy of the privy chamber.

Made in collaboration with the Henry on Tour research project that brought together Historic Royal Palaces and specialists from the universities of Newcastle and York, and recorded in the Rutland village of Lyddington where the king himself stayed during two progresses, this album journeys with Henry from palace to province.

Gramophone Award-nominated Ensemble Pro Victoria, under the direction of Toby Ward and guided by Professor Magnus Williamson, vividly capture these Tudor soundscapes in a programme of glorious but often little-known music, including a number of premiere recordings.

"the sum of the parts form[s] an aural depiction of Henry VIII’s annual progresses every bit as vivid and colourful as Hans Holbein the Younger’s famous portrait"

"Henry VIII enjoyed travelling around his kingdom, staying with other members of the aristocracy but also in his many palaces. Wherever he went, often also did his singers, instrumentalists and keyboard players. This disc reflects that period. It introduces us to several early Tudor musicians who are not only new to someone like me but also new to the catalogue ...As far as domestic music-making is concerned, we do not really know for sure what was heard, or the sort of musician involved. Henry himself seems to have been a versatile instrumentalist, very enthusiastic especially in his early years. There are, though, various songbooks containing three- and four-part secular works by composers like William Cornysh. He is represented here by two pieces, including the little-known Ah, the sighs... "

Gary Higginson -

MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

read the full review here

'This disc is something of an antidote to those discs of refulgent early Tudor polyphony. Here, everything is more intimate, more personal, simply one or two musicians entertaining the king or the dozen or so singing men and boys of the Riding Chapel providing music at mass. As might be expected from Toby Ward and Ensemble Pro Victoria, performances are stylish and engaging. The music is presented as it is, with no attempt to inflate the significance. A lot of this is useful music written by practical musicians and the result is a disc which gives us a valuable window onto the sound world of the Tudor Court on tour ...'

ROBERT HUGILL
read his full review here

Release Date: 23 May 2025
Catalogue No: DCD3435
Total playing time: [63:09]

Recorded on 5-7 March 2024 in Lyddington Parish

Church, Rutland and 12 April 2024 in St Nicholas’s

Cathedral, Newcastle (organ pieces)

Producer/Engineer: Paul Baxter

24-bit digital editing: Jack Davis

24-bit digital mastering: Paul Baxter

Organ: the ‘Wetheringsett organ’, Martin Goetze

and Dominic Gwynn, 2001

Design: Drew Padrutt

Booklet editor: Henry Howard

Cover: Joos van Cleve (c.1485–1540/41), Henry VIII

of England, formerly attributed to Hans Holbein the

Younger. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Session photography: Will Coates-Gibson/Foxbrush

Delphian Records Ltd – Edinburgh – UK

Collections: All Releases, Choral, Early Music, New Releases

Category: Choral, Early Music, Ensemble Pro Victoria, Toby Ward, Tudor