Tomás Luis de Victoria: Missa Vidi speciosam
Mary Bevan comes from a family with a long tradition of singing, beginning her musical journey in her dad’s church choir when she was only six years old. She has forged a career as a versatile soprano and is part of the Bevan Family Consort, a choir made up of her siblings and other close relatives.
This is a Mass by the 16th–century Spanish composer, Tomás Luis de Victoria. I would sing it in my dad’s choir when I was younger. Later, we, the Bevan Family Consort, recorded it for our debut album which has the same title, Missa Vidi Speciosam.
It was the staple piece we did with dad on a Sunday morning, in the organ loft at the church where he was the music director. It’s written for more than one choir so we would stand opposite each other; my sister Sophie would be over there, me being here, and then dad surrounded by all of us conducting in the middle. I remember the look of joy on his face as we began to sing out.
He wasn’t like other choral conductors, you know, you’re not allowed to sing – he was the opposite. He would be like, more, more… and we’d really let rip and we could see him weep as the church filled with sound. It’s one of my happiest memories of him.
For me, it linked emotion in with singing because a lot of the time if you’re feeling emotional, you can’t sing because it traps everything. But if you actually get past the fear of emotion, you can use it in your singing. I’ve learned so much from that. The fact that my dad showed his emotions in the way he did was a real gift to all of us as singers. He wouldn’t cry because things were sad, he cried because things were happy and because things were beautiful.
Vidi Speciosam: Sacred Choral Music – The Bevan Family Consort – Signum Classics, 2023
