A Beautiful Sanctus

This recording of John Sheppard's Sanctus from his Missa 'Cantate' is one of my favorites. I was first introduced to it over ten years ago when a friend sent me this album. I tear up almost every time, not only because of the high treble voices, but I love the tenors and the bells at the consecration as well.

This is also an interesting recording in other respects. It's a recreation of a Sarum Use Mass for Christmas day. The Sarum Use is one of the pre-Tridentine forms of the Roman Rite, in use in parts of England before the Reformation. The oddest part about the recording is its attempt at recreating how Latin would have been pronounced in England at the time of John Sheppard (i.e. more like English and less like Italian). It takes some getting used to.

I'll pass some information on the my friend shared with me at the time, to explain the bells. This piece is only the first half of the Sanctus, and it would have been sung while the priest was praying the Eucharistic prayer up until the consecration (it excludes the Benedictus, which would be sung after the consecration). In the Sarum Use at Salisbury Cathedral, on high feast days such as Christmas, Mass would have been celebrated simultaneously on more than one altar. That's why you hear multiple sets of bells ringing at the consecration. Each altar has its own set of bells for the consecration, which are rung at each consecration.

(I've probably shared this before, but it's always worth a re-share).