Early Music Review (December 2007)

Byrd - Clarifica me

This CD is a revelation!
Although Byrd is unlikely to have known anything but comparatively small scale organs without the mixture ranks, 16' stops or sheer volume of most contemporary continental organs, his music does take on far more magisterial quality when performed on such instruments, particularly with a more generous acoustic than is often associated with English 16th century organ music. The Oosthuizen organ is usually dated at 1521 (the date of the construction of the church), but it seems to be a conglomeration of pipes from several instruments (some dating from well before the 1520s) put together around 1670. Although it is small, with just seven stops (including a 16 Bourdon, a Mixture, an Octaaf with doubled ranks of pipes in the upper register and a gorgeously sonorous 8' Prestant) it speaks into a generous acoustic. These give Byrd a magisterial quality that is so often missing from performances that are, arguably, slightly more in keeping with his own sound world. Léon Berben's playing is stylish and powerful, with appropriate ornamentation and interpretations. This CD is an important contribution to our understanding of this important period in English musical history. Incidentally, one problem that I know from experience that the performer will have had to grapple with is how to fit the music onto the tiny organ desk.

Andrew Benson-Wilson