William Byrd

Super Flumina Babylonis And Quomodo Cantabimus

The Musica Dei donum series makes accessible to performers a variety of interesting and generally lesser-known Renaissance vocal works. The titles in the series are presented in practical format, with the aim of retaining a 'clean' text on the page that is authentic to the original manuscripts while at the same time offering performance suggestions for those who wish to consider them. for SATB double choir Phillipe de Monte wrote Super flumina Babylonis (By the streams of Babylon, there we sat and wept) and sent it to William Byrd who responded by setting the subsequent verses of the psalm text Quomodo Cantabimus (How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land). This edition allows these wonderful pieces to be sung as a unit or separately.