The Missa Sancti Wilhelmi isn't one of Taverner's best known works, but there's no reason why this should be the case. Though it doesn't have the sometimes rather wild melodic beauty of the sixvoice Masses, it's nevertheless an impressive work in a more modern imitative style, in keeping with its model O Wilhelme, pastor bone. The Sixteen perform with their customary clarity and precision, and convey enthusiasm even in the somewhat syllabic Gloria and Credo movements of the Mass, something which isn't always easy to do.
While both the 'Wilhelm' works and Dum transissetSabbatum are among Taverner's later works, there's no doubt at all that Ex eius tumba is one of the earliest. It's firmly late medieval in style, and the intricate tracery of its construction makes a thought-provoking contrast to the pieces in a more 'continental' imitative style. At 15 minutes this is a substantial composition, and one can only be surprised that it's so little known. Dum transissetSabbatum is, however, the high point of the disc, and if The Sixteen do not quite attain the ecstatic heights achieved in the recording by The Tallis Scholars, neither do they fail to rise to Taverner's inspiration.