In a Strange Land: Elizabethan Composers in Exile - stile antico
Stile Antico explores the music of Catholic composers under the harshly anti-catholic reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Torn between obedience and conscience, some of England's most talented musicians chose a life of exile abroad. Others chose to remain in spiritual isolation in England, comparing themselves to the exiled Israelites in Babylon. Among them were Robert White, whose five-part Lamentations are one of the glories of English music of any age, and William Byrd, whose anguished Catholic music is referenced in Shakespeare's enigmatic poem 'The Phoenix and the Turtle', set by contemporary composer Huw Watkins especially for Stile Antico.