But it wasn’t just performance and recording that interested Alistair; his fascination with original source material engendered an almost passionate need to be involved at a more fundamental level. The Cantiones Press was born out of his need for accurate editions of the music his choir was performing, rather than relying on the Romantic fancy of a Victorian editor. “I decided to edit the music myself, but not having a music degree meant that, initially, I had to work much harder to make sure that things were correct - as a result, I think that now I have probably read too many books! But what really helped was being in an environment where there were other people to help out, and I have developed a network of excellent contacts who are delighted to offer their advice.”

	Dixon (centre) with members of the Chapelle du Roi

Having a background where working out logistical difficulties is the name of the game, Alistair feels that he has been well-trained to cope with many of the problems that editing early music provides. “There are quite a few pieces around that many people wouldn’t dare to edit, such as Tallis’ 40-part motet Spem in Alium, but I found it an enjoyable challenge, especially when trying to work out a method whereby everyone could read from an A4-sized score, follow their part and be aware of whatever else is going on.”

Taking its name from Tallis’ Cantiones Sacrae, a collection of motets for domestic use, the Cantiones Press in fact pre-dates the founding of Signum Records. Despite this, its official launch did not occur until December of last year, with a special concert at St John’s Smith Square in London. “That was quite an event…the Chapelle du Roi were joined by countertenor James Bowman, Charivari Agréable Simfonie and the singers of Schola Cantorum of Oxford; our audience was fantastic and the sense of euphoria during the performance really carried it .” The launch also allowed audiences and potential customers to appreciate fully the work that had previously gone into Cantiones Press: “It seems funny launching a new venture that in fact has been around for a while, but we have 26 completed editions and another 30 or so are planned, so there is plenty to choose from.”

The Press is not limited to sixteenth-century music alone. It has several subdivisions, which Dixon appropriately refers to as “imprints”, covering a range of musical genres from early Continental and Franco-Flemish to twentieth-century genres. “The latter is really still in the stages of development. We have made appropriate approaches to composers and hope to be signing a few very shortly, but therein lies a problem…Composers seem to be very shy at assigning copyright to anyone other than the big publishing houses, which is a shame, since the smaller houses can, and do, offer a similar return.”

With an impressive list of choirs that already use Cantiones Press editions, which includes Westminster Cathedral and Harry Christophers’ The Sixteen, it seems that Cantiones Press is likely to become one of the major specialist publishing houses of the twenty-first century; with a critically-acclaimed choir, a recording company that is fast becoming known for high standards of recording and performance, and a bright business acumen, an interesting future seems set for this master of all trades.

MT.co.uk