Gentleman of the Chapel Royal [CD]

The Gentlemen of HM Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace and their director Carl Jackson make their Resonus Classics debut with this album of works for lower voices by Thomas Tallis - himself a Gentleman of the Tudor Chapel Royal serving under four monarchs. Recorded in the impressive surroundings of the Chapel Royal where the choir are resident, this first release with the ensemble presents works for four and seven voices including a reconstruction of Tallis's Missa Puer natus est nobis based on chant for Christmas Day, and the sumptuous Suscipe quaeso Domine. The Gentlemen of HM Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace sing services throughout the year in the palace's splendid Chapel Royal, whose ceiling was installed by Henry VIII in the 1530s. There they are joined by up to eighteen boy choristers, who are drawn from schools nearby and led by Carl Jackson, Director of Music. Just as in the sixteenth century, the choir's personnel is adapted dynamically to the occasion and the demands of the repertory. In ordinary times, there are six Gentlemen and for special occasions the ensemble can expand to as many as fourteen singers.