COMPOSERS: Peerson
LABELS: Hyperion
ALBUM TITLE: Peerson - Latin Motets
WORKS: Latin Motets
PERFORMER: Ex Cathedra ConsortJeffrey Skidmore
CATALOGUE NO: CDA67490
This disc unearths startlingly
unorthodox writing in an obscure
corner of English polyphony. Martin
Peerson (c1571-1651), best known
from his slim contributions to the
Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, was a
master of choristers at St Paul’s.
His fascination with that choir’s
expressive potential crystallise in his
Latin motets, here recorded for the
first time.
We normally associate Latin
motets from this period with
recusant sympathies, but Peerson’s
settings remind us how pre-
Reformation texts continued
to nourish Anglican devotion.
Peerson amplified word meaning
by allowing inflection to generate
the rhythms on which he based
his typically short points; he then
simultaneously imitated and
varied these points. The result is a
controlled crescendo – of melodic
or rhythmic intricacy – in which
irregular repetitions coalesce
in a perfectly timed harmonic
resolution. Jeffrey Skidmore’s
reading pushes the unique structure
of Peerson’s paragraphs into the
foreground: large-scale dynamic
contouring, leisurely tempos and
subtle shifts in balance create a
spacious framework in which the
composer’s large structures emerge.
The Ex Cathedra Consort triumphs
beautifully over the vocal challenges
of this music with its pellucid upper
voices, restrained yet robust basses,
and attention to textual detail.
Skidmore eschews dramatising
individual words, which can dull
passages of chordal declamation.
However, in general this
reconstruction of Peerson, enhanced
by excellent sound engineering,
manages to reveal a master at work.
Berta Joncus