It seems ironic that the bitter violence of Elizabethan England, a society splintered by religious persecution, should give birth to music of such exceptional poise and serenity as that of Tallis, Byrd and their contemporaries. As part of the Cambridge Early Music Festival of the Voice, we were treated to a frankly gorgeous evening of supremely confident, and well-executed, Elizabethan choral music from exciting Belgian choir Vox Luminis. The glowing intensity of each piece, richly supported by cascading harmonies, brought both Latin and English words vibrantly alive: all these composers are able to create a sense of the exquisite divine through their music, an idea of perfection so powerful, and so intoxicating, that you begin to feel it might well be worth dying for.
