Sacred and Profane

The Sixteen here link two—or more likely three—English composers who flourished four centuries apart. William Cornysh is probably two people, possibly father and son, who left a rich, often passion-laden body of work. Harry Christophers brings it magnificently to life alongside unaccompanied choral works written by Benjamin Britten throughout his career. Cornysh’s Woefully Array’d is particularly beautifully shaped and Britten’s Sacred and Profane strongly projected. The juxtaposition of these two very different musical voices is wonderfully revealing and satisfying.