Hosanna to the son of David

St Matthew’s Gospel tells the story of Jesus’ triumphant arrival into Jerusalem to crowd-lined streets and cries of “Hosanna to the Son of David”. Both Orlando Gibbons and his Tudor contemporary Thomas Weelkes set the words for unaccompanied choir. Where Weelkes draws out the solemnity and grandeur of the occasion, Gibbons catches the energy of the scene in volleys of choral shouts that pass excitedly to and fro among the six voices. The second tenor voice starts it all with an athletic phrase that dances upwards. That voice is quickly followed by the soprano and alto voices, imitative phrases echoing and re-echoing around the ensemble, a cluster of sonic fireworks. Each time a new idea is introduced, it’s treated similarly, growing outwards from a single utterance, swelling in weight and intensity as voice crowds in upon voice. The anthem ends with a return of the opening idea, rising quite literally to new heights, before falling away to a radiant close.