Search - Harry Christophers :: Mundy: Cathedral Music

You rarely if ever hear the name William Mundy mentioned along with those of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd; but, together with Robert White, Mundy was one of the more inventive and adventurous composers of the 16th century. No composer of this period used more fearlessly or effectively the deliciously discordant device known as "cross-relation"--a deliberate clash between two parts created by altering the pitch of one of the notes. Mundy was proficient at many forms and styles, from the Mass and English verse-anthems to psalms to motets. Some of his larger pieces are grand and powerful; others are tender and graceful with rich harmonies, occasional surprising cadences, and magnificent closing amens. Although there some points of sonic distortion in the loudest, most thickly-textured passages of this recording, the performances are excellent. --David Vernier