Having conquered reception issues, both here and in London, I was finally able to get through to Andrew Cardwood, one of the founders of The Cardinall’s Musick. They are a vocal ensemble specialising in English Renaissance music, who recently recorded a thirteen volume collection of William Byrd’s Latin music. Saving the best till last, the thirteenth received the Gramophone Award for Early Music and the 2010 'Recording of the Year' award.

Though the ensemble had never performed in Cambridge before, Andrew himself was returning to his college, St John’s. He was reminiscing about the wonderful time he had working with George Guest back in his university days and the legacy of those days to his philosophy of music-making.

Their recent series of concerts were entitled ‘Byrd and his Friends’. The old Johnian clarified that the friendship works on two levels. Having spent the last twelve years researching, singing and recording Byrd’s music, the ensemble feel a particular connection with the composer, “a friend really”. But the title also refers to Byrd and the influence of his contemporary friends on his music. Andrew argued that the personal connections between the composers were very often reflected in the music. The connection was often a “physical” one - three composers, for example, collaborated in the writing of In Exitu Israel: Byrd, Shepard and Mundy. He also talks of the use of “musical quotations”.

Friendship seems to be key for Andrew. He profoundly stated that “you have to make friends with music and art before you really understand it” and the Cardinall’s seem to have done so with Byrd. Within their consort, Andrew also feels like they’re all friends, and they have a very small turnover – their ‘newest’ member joined the group over six years ago. They, therefore, see the award they received last year as a celebration for them as well as being a celebration of the music.

The conversation then moved on to whether Renaissance music continues to have a place in the world. Andrew asserted that the award itself shows that this type of music continues to play a prominent role in the classical music scene as well as the general worldview. He talked of its “spiritual dimension” – that Renaissance music can satisfy the need for spirituality; not necessarily going to Church, but just as a means of feeding the soul rather than the body.

It is “sophisticated music and a sophisticated setting of texts; if you take the trouble to scratch the surface, you find the most astonishingly beautiful music”.

And the demand speaks for itself. Although he highlighted that there is a difference between the CD-buying and downloading audience and the concert-going audience, “there is a thirst and people do want it” – just like Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the figure they are named after, who apparently spent more money on food and music than anything else.

Andrew made the distinction that situation is slightly different in England, as we “are very spoilt” with a lot of choirs, both professional and amateur. Abroad, the Cardinall’s have noticed a much larger turnout, particularly when comparing smaller cities, and a greater “younger contingent” (apart from university towns like Cambridge of course).

They are now set to start recording Byrd’s English music – starting with the Great Service in November this year. They are also embarking on a national tour starting in the autumn of 2012 and finishing in 2013, for which Andrew (with a little help from his friends) ambitiously drew up 16 different programmes to get through every note of Byrd’s music.

For the friends of Byrd amongst you, the Cardinall’s are definitely the group to look to if you wish to deepen your relationship with Byrd and his most loyal friends – The Cardinall’s Musick.