The Dunedin Consort’s latest disc is entitled In chains of gold and takes its name from a quote by Thomas Morley detailing how he thought singers should ‘draw the hearer ... to the consideration of holy things.’ Judging by singing of this quality, the gold in question here is 24 carat. The main work on the disc is William Byrd’s Mass for Five voices complete with the appropriate liturgical plainsong after each part of the ordinary of the mass. It is accompanied by assorted motets by Tallis and Byrd as well as various snippets on Dunedin’s own organ, superbly played by John Kitchen. The highlight for me, however, is Byrd’s lively motet Gaudeamus Omnes. It’s the most substantial motet on the disc and it really sounds like the group particularly enjoyed recording this track. The singing is very slick, using Dunedin’s normal style of having only one singer on each part, making space for a more characterised performance than one using more than five singers. Also, the blending on the disc is superb – it is very difficult to distinguish which of the middle three parts is singing at any one time! This is the first Dunedin disc produced by Edinburgh based label, Delphian records, and the production quality is perfectly matched to the music. If I had to quibble about something, it is a shame that the track listing on the back of the CD is almost unreadable due the superimposition of the text onto the photo. Overall, this disc is a cracker and well worth adding to your collection, especially if it’s lacking in the music of the English renaissance.

Reviewed by Will Dawes