My favorite example of a piece I dearly love but could never sing — very few parishes could ever pull this off — is the William Byrd motet for Advent “Vigilate.” It’s a piece that makes me think that Adam might be right after all.
Vigilate, nescitis enim quando dominus domus veniat, sero, an media nocte, an gallicantu, an mane.
Vigilate ergo, ne cum venerit repente, inveniat vos dormientes.
Quod autem dico vobis, omnibus dico: vigilate.Watch ye therefore (for you know not when the lord of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning):
Watch therefore, lest coming on a sudden, he find you sleeping.
And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch.
It’s all amazing but “ne cum venerit repente” is just wow.
By the way, make your way to the Byrd Festival and hear one of the best Byrd choirs in the world sing this material live!
Mayhap thou meanest "The Astonishing Polytechnics of William Byrd"
Heh.
I remember hearing this piece about 25 years ago at a concert in Montreal by the boys choir from St. John's College Cambrige(if I remember correctly) . I was in the front row. Out of everything in the concert this was the piece that really blew me away. The next day I copied it out of Byrd's collected works at the library. I realized though, performing this with amateur singers wasn't going to happen any time soon. I looked for recordings of it for years(a generation or two before Youtube) and it was like no one had ever heard of it. I was so surprised when I saw it mentioned here.
Thanks