Collected Vocal Music, Part 3

Lawes's surviving sacred music consists of three verse anthems, one sacred song, twelve verses for psalms with psalm-tune choruses, thirty-two motet psalms, and eleven canons. His “Oxford” Psalms are unlike other English church music of the time, being settings of metrical psalms as a series of declamatory verses for solo voices and thoroughbass, alternating with choruses singing common psalm tunes. Lawes's motet psalms, for three voices with thoroughbass, are atypical of English church of the time. This edition includes thirty settings from Choice Psalmes (1648), plus two newly discovered psalms from the Chirk Castle partbooks. Lawes's canons are from Choice Psalmes, his autograph Ob MS Mus. Sch. b. 2, and his autograph song book Lbl Add. MS 31,432. One sacred song survives, “When man for sin thy judgement feels,” a highly embellished setting of lyrics based on verses 11 and 12 of Psalm 39.