... one item was absolutely amazing. I knew that Willaert's Inviolata a7 was an outstanding work - ... As always, Philip Thorby inspired us, and he had the same effect at Cambridge. There were seven fine singers: Annabel Malton, Selene Mills, Linda Gower, Richard Robbins, Victor Amaro, Shinji Suzuki and Nick Webb.

The motet is for SSAATTB (in terms of clef, at least, though the top two parts sing no higher than an octave above middle C). Three of the voices form a canon. It isn't an unrhythmic cantus firmus and the performers made no didactic attempt to make this structure particularly audible, though one could sense the difference between the slower and more active parts. The music held the audience spellbound. I was sufficiently aware of the singers to sense that this was one of those performances that got everything right but with nothing forced; ...

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