Robert Carver was one of the brightest stars in King James IV of Scotland’s Chapel Royal and this nearly-decade old recording by The Sixteen makes a very compelling case for the composer. Carver, a Canon of the Chapel Royal and also of the Augustinian Abbey of Scone in Perthshire may have been responsible for compiling a choirbook that offers a glimpse into the music performed at the largest collegiate church in Scotland. The works on the recording are large-scaled and filled with remarkable moments. While the Missa Dum sacrum mysterium for ten voices may have been sung at the coronation of James V on 21 September 1513, it is heard on this recording with the chants for the Feast of St. Michael. This is a striking work filled with passages that have shifting textures and styles; it surprises constantly. The motet O bone jesu for nineteen voices is a glorious example of Carver’s mature style and again displays the composer’s talent for varying textures.

The work also features a particularly striking use of the full ensemble singing the name “Jesu”. The anonymous Magnificat setting found in Carver’s choirbook may be English in origin since it resembles in texture and metre the Eton Choirbook Magnificats. The Sixteen were in glorious voice when this recording was made, with glowing top lines, (the soprano roster reads like a “who’s who” of English early music singers) and richly sonorous low voices. The glorious singing and fascinating repertoire makes this an essential and most welcome reissue. CRAIG ZEICHNER