Officium

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
What is this music? Fundamentally, it's an exploration of what happens when an improvisatory instrumental voice (saxophone) is placed into the world of early vocal music--which has elements of both improvisation and formal structure. In reality, it's an adventure in which the four male voices of the Hilliard Ensemble travel the 14th- and 15th-century territory of Morales and Dufay, visit the 12th century of Perotin, and roam even earlier ages of plainchant, accompanied by the always sensitive and tasteful--and often astonishing--saxophone improvisations of jazz master Jan Garbarek. Sometimes, these new melodies simply accompany; sometimes they transform the common--a routine minor chord, for instance--into a sublime, indescribable moment. The answer to the above question is easy--but it's different for each listener. --David Vernier

Tracks:

Parce mihi domine
Primo tempore
Sanctus
Regnantem sempiterna
O salutaris hostia
Procedentem sponsum
Pulcherrima rosa
Parce mihi domine
Beata viscera
De spineto nata rosa
Credo
Ave maris stella
Virgo flagellatur
Oratio Ieremiae
Parce mihi domine

Amazon.com essential recording

"What is this music?" Fundamentally, it's an exploration of what happens when an improvisatory instrumental voice (saxophone) is placed into the world of early vocal music, which has elements of both improvisation and formal structure. In reality, it's an adventure in which the four male voices of the Hilliard Ensemble travel the 14th- and 15th-century territory of Morales and Dufay, visit the 12th century of Perotin, and roam even earlier ages of plainchant, accompanied by the always sensitive and tasteful, often astonishing, saxophone improvisations of jazz master Jan Garbarek. Sometimes, these new melodies simply accompany; sometimes they transform the common--a routine minor chord, for instance--into a sublime, indescribable moment. The answer to the above question is easy, but it's different for each listener. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

Original, Brilliant, but Flawed.......2007-03-24

I'm a big fan both of Garbarek and of "early music", so I bought this album with enthusiasm when it first came out a decade ago. I wasn't disappointed, but I do find it uneven. Garbarek was experimenting throughout the process of recording this work, and some of his ideas are better than others. I understand completely those who complain about the soprano sax not blending well with the vocals - there are tracks where it's just too up-front and edgy to fit into the mix. But the tracks where the sax is recorded from further away, particularly those where a tenor sax is used, are absolutely sublime. For those moments, it deserves more than 4 stars. For the moments where the soprano sax is too shrill, I'd take off a fraction of a point if I could, but if I've got to call it a "4" or a "5", I'd give it a 5.

Great vocals but saxophone has to go!.......2007-03-19

This cd has extremely beautiful vocals and chants that conjure up sublime images of baronial castles, knights in armore and ornately decorated fireplaces of old. This is until Jan's 20-21st century saxophone weaves its way into this otherwise heavenly image. The sound quietly fades in out of nowhere and eventually drowns out the vocals. It then seems to meander in and out thoughout the rest of the song. If you like John Dowland meets Kenny G., this is for you. Otherwise, if you're looking for "pure" early music, you might want to stick with other Hilliard Ensemble music sans Mr. Garbarek.

I Wish I Could be More Positive, but..........2007-01-06

...but I really hate the soprano sax played over these beautiful pieces. The singing is superb and the repertoire is rare (only one other recording of the Morales, for instance, and that is done quite differently, anent the sax).

I think I would have liked it better if Garbarak had played a lower horn, like an alto or tenor sax. These pieces are about something, and I don't feel that Gabarak really knew what the texts were about and what the composers were responding to in the texts.

I keep it for the exquisite "Parce mihi Domine" sung withoug the screeching sax.

((saxophonist) + (chant + polyphony + motets)) = Officium.......2004-04-22

I bought this album on a whim shortly after its release several years ago after never having listened to any of its tracks, and was completely surprised when I heard it being played as I entered the stave church model located in the Norway region of Disney's Epcot Center during my first visit to the park earlier this year, because I have never at any time heard any of its tracks played anywhere outside my home. The stave church is a strange place to play this secular work, but perhaps the layperson might discover the reasons for this if the liner notes included English translations of the Latin. In my opinion, this album is comprised of some of the best blends of music styles I have ever heard. Essentially, the blends consist of Latin lyrics from the pre-12th through 16th centuries set to jazz. According to the liner notes, the vocal quartet produces "chant, reaching back to its pre-literate forms; early polyphony, where the number of parts was a matter of experiment and the same piece could exist in many different versions; and Renaissance motets that were conceived chordally, and might provide structures over which a saxophone could improvise". The unity of these music forms were united in light of the fact that just as jazz had no name at the beginning of the 20th century, polyphony did not have a name when it began 1000 years ago. As the liner notes explain, "these two nameless historical moments were points of departure for two of the most fundamental ideas in Western music: improvisation and composition".

Absolutely Gorgeous!.......2002-01-10

This is one of the most innovative and sublime CDs in my expansive collection. I'll stay away from trying to explain what centuries the pieces were written in, blah, blah, blah. Bottom line: they were all written before the saxophone was invented. Therefore, Garbarek's "intrusions" should seem as such, interrupting the Hilliard Ensemble's vocalizing. Quite the contrary, though. Garbarek's first notes, although somewhat unexpected, seem quite appropriate and fitted. His "improvisations" around the traditional structure of the vocals are sometimes subtle, sometimes more upfront, but always in keeping with the spirit of the original pieces. He winds and weaves his way around and through the vocal arrangements like a fifth vocalist--no restraints or boundaries but with a keen ear for what will sound good where.

This CD is on my very short list of classical "desert island" discs and ranks right up there with Bobby McFerrin and Yo-Yo Ma's HUSH for improvisational yet traditional music, with ingenious wrinkles thrown in. It's hard to call it straight classical, but it isn't exactly jazz, either. The styles are merged beautifully. The best metaphor I can think of would be a braid: separate entities intertwined and working together for a common goal and a common effect.

Anyone who claims to be a fan of good music--jazz, classical, or whatever--should check out this CD. It is a bit on the mellow side, so don't expect a Keith Jarrett improvisational explosion or a thunderous symphonic event. In the vein of the works of Anonymous 4, another spectacular classical vocal group, this CD is a meditative, almost spiritual experience. It will not disappoint!!

Musik Fur Streichinstrumente
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Must-have recording

Outstanding performances of important contemporary quartets

dark, rich and splendid!

New Music which Dares to make an Impact

Directly to the bottom

Musik Fur Streichinstrumente

Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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György Kurtág: Signs, Games and Messages

Kurtag: Jatekok / Marta and Gyorgy Kurtag

Kafka-Fragmente Op. 24

György Ligeti Edition 1: String Quartets and Duets - Arditti String Quartet

Kaija Saariaho: Du Cristal...À la Fumée; Sept Papillons, Nymphéa

ASIN: B000024R1O
Release Date: 2000-02-01

Tracks:

Aus der Ferne III
Officium breve in memoriam Andrezervzky
Ligatura - Message to Frences-Marie (The answered unanswered question)
Quartetto per archi op.1 / I Poco agitato
' II Con moto
' III Vivacissimo; Lento
' IV Con spirito
' V Molto ostinato
' VI Adagio
Hommage ih Andr 12 Mikroludien / I
' II
' III
' IV Presto
' V Lontano, calmo, appena sentito
' VI
' VII
' VIII Con slancio
' IX Pesante, con moto / Leggiero
' X Molto agitato
' XI
' XII Leggiero, con moto, non dolce
Ligatura - Message to Frances-Marie (The answered unanswered question)

Customer Reviews:

Must-have recording.......2006-12-27

I heard the Boston Symphony play an orchestral piece of Kurtag's several years ago. I was impressed by the piece, and frankly have no idea why it took me so long to purchase this CD. There are a great many noteworthy string quartets of the last hundred years, and Kurtag's in some ways are the most unusual. While formidable technique and discipline are required to play them, the overall effect is not highly virtuosic, as you might remark about say, Bartok. The overall effect is more darkly contemplative, although there are certainly moments of great drama. Harmonically, they're quite wonderful, with much of the harmony in very low registers. The sparseness of the writing may bring Webern to mind, but the resemblance is only superficial. Kurtag speaks with his own distinct voice.
The reading by the Keller Quartet is excellent. It is both restrained and emotional. The quality of the recording is excellent, as one would expect from ECM.

Outstanding performances of important contemporary quartets.......2004-01-07

Having released several discs featuring his music, ECM have played a major role in the in the recent buzz surrounding the Hungarian composer György Kurtág. This disc of his three string quartets--all key works in the composer's oeuvre--by the outstanding Keller Quartet may well be the finest of all these recordings.

The String Quartet, opus 1, was written in 1959, when Kurtág was 33. (It is perhaps a sign of the composer's lack of conventional self-confidence that none of his previous works had merited an opus number.) Written in six movements, it is composed in a language that is very obviously derived from Bartók and Webern, though even here (unlike, say, in the earlier Viola Concerto) Kurtág is clearly his own composer. The first movement is a brief, ambivalent exposition, the second plays with vigorous ostinati and the third is almost a conventional scherzo (though with slower passages interrupting). The fourth movement is perhaps a negation of the third: it is a slow movement with vigorous outbursts fragmenting the flow; while the fifth movement mirrors the second in its ostinato writing. The slow finale takes the material of the opening but extends it to more than four times the length of the first movement.

If the String Quartet was an assured debut, the Twelve Microludes, opus 13, written in 1977 and 1978, demonstrate how much Kurtág was to grow as a composer in the next two decades. Even more miniaturised than the Quartet (its twelve movements last a mere ten minutes), it also contains a much greater variety of expression. The music includes several chorale-like movements and some that play with ostinati as in the Quartet, but the heart of the work is surely the fifth movement, whose haunting folk-like melody is heard as from afar, garlanded by fragmentary motifs on the other instruments.

Officium breve, opus 28, is an instrumental requiem for the Hungarian composer Andre Szervánszky, written in 1988 and 1989. The work is in fifteen movements--which play without a break--and exhibits something of a collage form. The two linchpins of the work are an incomplete quotation from Szervánszky's Serenade for Strings and the remarkable canon that ends Webern's Second Cantata (a transcription for string quartet of which is the tenth movement of the quartet). Two movements, the third and the twelfth, both based on the Szervánszky quote, are transcribed directly from Szervánszky homages in the piano collection Játékok. The work ends with ferociously dissonant varations on the Szervánszky quote that lead directly into the final movement, which is nothing more than that quote itself. This luminously tonal, Romantic music provides a sudden peripeteia, and sheds unexpected new light on what had come before.

The disc also includes two miniatures. Aus der Ferne III, a homage to Paul Sacher on his 90th birthday, has appeared in a number of versions (two violins, piano four-hands) before this string quartet version. The Answered Unanswered Question (Homage-Message à Frances-Marie) is heard twice on this disc. Commemorating Frances-Marie Uitti and her bizarre double-bowing cello technique, this brief work, for two violins, two cellos and celesta, features the composer playing the celesta part.

Both Officium breve and the Twelve Microludes strike me as amongst the finest of post-war quartets, and they deserve the strongest possible advocacy. Happily, the playing of the Keller Quartet is quite outstanding, and gets to the heart of the music in a way that the rival version from the Arditti Quartet cannot match. Even with the rather short (less than 50 minutes) playing time, this is an essential recording for anyone interested in postwar music.

dark, rich and splendid!.......2001-07-28

This is an exquisite recording of some of the best in modern music. The three major pieces are Kurtag's String Quartet (op. 1) of 1959, the second quartet, 12 Microludes (op. 13), of 1977-78, and the third quartet, Officium Breve (op. 28) of 1988-89. Three shorter pieces are included as well, including two versions of Ligatura, with Kurtag on celesta. Kurtag clearly fuses Webern and Bartok, producing dark, rich music that is never exhausted through repeated listening.

How does this 1996 KQ/ECM recording compare to the 1990 recording by the Arditti Quartet of Kurtag's three string quartets on Montaigne, supervised by Kurtag? (see my review) The KQ takes the tempos slightly slower, and this produces a suitably dramatic effect. The tempo difference is likely one chief cause of the difference in affect -- the AQ sounds more anguished overall, whereas the KQ is slightly more restrained, more stoic. Of course the KQ is treated to Manfred Eicher's patented production, with its noticeable resonance, and this produces a darker tone, it seems. The Montaigne production of the AQ is more natural, with a clean, clear surface. The KQ adds three short Kurtag pieces for an all-Kurtag set, while the AQ adds Lutoslawski's 25-minute quartet (his only one), and the 10-minute Second Quartet by Gubaidulina. ECM's graphics and packaging are stunning, as usual, with black-and-white photography.

It is fascinating to hear the alternative interpretations, and Kurtag's works certainly warrant more! But if you hear only one, the Keller Quartet's recording is outstanding.

New Music which Dares to make an Impact.......2001-01-11

As a member of a professional string quartet, I'm always on the lookout for new repertoire for my group to perform. I'd noticed that several Kurtag pieces had been performed (by the Emerson and Orion quartets, most recently) and wanted to see what all the buzz was about. Turns out, it was worth the purchase of this fine CD. I've always been a fan of Webern and Ligeti, and Kurtag seems to me to embody the best of these two composers' styles, while remaining very much his own distinct musical personality. The Keller Quartet plays these pieces with great virtuosity, but not at the expense of passion and what I can only describe as a "avant garde bel canto". If you have any interest in new music, and especially new music which is extraordinary, look no further than this disc.

Directly to the bottom.......2000-08-17

The words expressed by the Spanish fan music (in Barcelona) resume the feelings Kurtag evokes.

The intensity of the emotions provoked by Kurtag's music on me are also based on the contrast with my Mediterranean personality and values, what demonstrates the inmense power of music: there are no nations, no races, no room to disagreement when listening to the language of the bottom.

Carmina Burana
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Carmina Burana

Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Carmina Burana from 13th Century Manuscripts

Carmina Burana (XI-XIII Century)

Ludwig Senfl: Im Maien

Carmina Burana

The Black Madonna

ASIN: B000027P26
Release Date: 1992-12-09

Tracks:

Carmina Gulatorum Et Potatorum: Bacche, Bene Venies (CB 200)
Carmina Gulatorum Et Potatorum: Virent Prata Hiemata (CB 151)
Carmina Gulatorum Et Potatorum: Nomen A Solempnibus (CB 52)
Carmina Gulatorum Et Potatorum: Alte Clamat Epicurus (CB 211)-Nu Lebe Ich (CB 211a)
Carmina Gulatorum Et Potatorum: Vite Perdite II (CB 31)
Carmina Gulatorum Et Potatorum: Vacillantis Trutine (CB 108)
Carmina Gulatorum Et Potatorum: In Taberna Quando Sumus (CB 196)
Carmina Lusorum: Officium Lusorum (CB 215 Et 215a): Introitus: Lugeamus Omnes In Decio
Carmina Lusorum: Officium Lusorum (CB 215 Et 215a): Epistola: Lectio Actuum Apopholorum
Carmina Lusorum: Officium Lusorum (CB 215 Et 215a): Sequentia: Victime Novali
Carmina Lusorum: Officium Lusorum (CB 215 Et 215a): Evangelium: Sequentia Falsi Evangelii
Carmina Lusorum: Officium Lusorum (CB 215 Et 215a): Oratio: Ornemus!
Carmina Moralia Et Divina: Dic, Christi Veritas-Bulla Fulminate (CB 131 Et 131a)
Carmina Moralia Et Divina: Licet Eger II (CB 8)
Carmina Moralia Et Divina: Si Vocatus Ad Nupcias I (Cb 26, 3)
Carmina Moralia Et Divina: Nomen A Solempnibus II (CB 52)
Carmina Moralia Et Divina: Fas Et Nefas Ambulant (CB 19)
Carmina Moralia Et Divina: Flete Flenda (CB 5)
Carmina Moralia Et Divina: Homo Qui Vigeas (CB 22)
Carmina Moralia Et Divina: Procurans Odium II (CB 12)
Carmina Moralia Et Divina: Crucifigat Omnes (CB 47)

Tracks:

Carmina Moralia: Deduc, Syon, Uberrimas (CB 34)
Carmina Moralia: Ecce, Torpet Probitas (CB 3)
Carmina Moralia: In Terra Sumus Rex (CB 11)
Carmina Veris Et Amoris: Tempus Transit Gelidum (CB 153)
Carmina Veris Et Amoris: Bacche, Bene Venies II (CB 200)
Carmina Veris Et Amoris: Licet Eger (CB 8)
Carmina Veris Et Amoris: In Gedeonis Ara (CB 37)
Carmina Veris Et Amoris: Exiit Diluculo Rustica Puella (CB90)
Carmina Veris Et Amoris: Clauso Chronos (CB 73)
Carmina Veris Et Amoris: Olim Sudor Herculis (CB 63)
Carmina Veris Et Amoris: Virent Prata Hiemata (CB 151 Et 151a)
Carmina Veris Et Amoris: Veris Dulcis In Tempore I (CB 159)
Carmina Veris Et Amoris: Vacillantis Truntine II (CB 108)
Carmina Veris Et Amoris: Michi Confer, Venditor I (CB 16)
Carmina Veris Et Amoris: Veris Dulcis In Tempore II (CB 159)

Tracks:

Carmina Divina: Ave Nobilis Venerabilis Maria (CB 11)
Carmina Divina: Fulget Dies Celebris (CB 153)
Plaintes Mariales Du Jeu De La Passion (CB 16): Ave, Domina Mundi (CB 18)
Plaintes Mariales Du Jeu De La Passion (CB 16): Ave Maria, Gratia Plena (CB 15)
Plaintes Mariales Du Jeu De La Passion (CB 16): Deus, In Nomine Tuo (CB 15)
Plaintes Mariales Du Jeu De La Passion (CB 16): Ludus De Passione (CB 16)
Plaintes Mariales Du Jeu De La Passion (CB 16): Regali Ex Progenie Maria (CB 18)
Plaintes Mariales Du Jeu De La Passion (CB 16): Sanctissima Et Gloriosissima (CB 18)
Carmina Amoris Infelicis: Iste Mundus Furibundus (CB 24)
Carmina Amoris Infelicis: Axe Phebus Aureo (CB 71)
Carmina Amoris Infelicis: Dulce Solum Natalis Patrie (CB 119)
Carmina Amoris Infelicis: Procurans Odium (CB 12)
Carmina Amoris Infelicis: Vite Perdite I (CB 31)
Carmina Amoris Infelicis: Sic Mea Fata Canendo Solo (CB 116)
Carmina Amoris Infelicis: Ich Was Ein Chint So Wolgetan (CB 185)

Average customer rating:

I Wish I Could be More Positive...
Perfect for "Old Souls"
Mixed feelings about mixed genres
Wow.
What Coltrane hears in heaven

Officium
Anonymous , Czech Anonymous , Guillaume Dufay , Pierre de La Rue , Cristobal de Morales , Perotin , Sarum Chant , Hilliard Ensemble , and Jan Garbarek
Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Vocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Chants | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Hymns | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Mnemosyne / Garbarek, Hilliard Ensemble
Twelve Moons
In Praise of Dreams
Officium - Jan Gabarek & The Hilliard Ensemble
Perotin / The Hilliard Ensemble

ASIN: B000025IL0
Release Date: 1999-11-16

Tracks:

Parce mihi domine
Primo tempore
Sanctus
Regnantem sempiterna
O salutaris hostia
Procedentem sponsum
Pulcherrima rosa
Parce mihi domine
Beata viscera
De spineto nata rosa
Credo
Ave maris stella
Virgo flagellatur
Oratio Ieremiae
Parce mihi domine

Tracks:

Parce mihi domine
Primo tempore
Sanctus
Regnantem sempiterna
O salutaris hostia
Procedentem sponsum
Pulcherrima rosa
Parce mihi domine
Beata viscera
De spineto nata rosa
Credo
Ave maris stella
Virgo flagellatur
Oratio Ieremiae
Parce mihi domine

Amazon.com

What is this music? Fundamentally, it's an exploration of what happens when an improvisatory instrumental voice (saxophone) is placed into the world of early vocal music--which has elements of both improvisation and formal structure. In reality, it's an adventure in which the four male voices of the Hilliard Ensemble travel the 14th- and 15th-century territory of Morales and Dufay, visit the 12th century of Perotin, and roam even earlier ages of plainchant, accompanied by the always sensitive and tasteful--and often astonishing--saxophone improvisations of jazz master Jan Garbarek. Sometimes, these new melodies simply accompany; sometimes they transform the common--a routine minor chord, for instance--into a sublime, indescribable moment. The answer to the above question is easy--but it's different for each listener. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

I Wish I Could be More Positive..........2007-01-06

Perfect for "Old Souls".......2006-12-15

I'll never forget hearing this music for the first time, in 1993 or 1994 at a sampling station at Borders. I have to admit I was intrigued by the cover photograph likely taken at a cemetery, of a spider web-draped angel statute. That was when CDs were still new, and my first thought was "This is the perfect sound for CDs: clear, quiet, ethereal." I bought the handsome 2-CD package then and there, and my interest in this unique musical project has gradually matured in the past decade. Most recently, following a significant family death in 2002, I've started a personal tradition of spending New Year's Eve alone at home, with only candles burning after 7:00 p.m., listing to recordings of great requiems (Mozart, Durufle, Rutter and Verdi) and The Hilliard Ensemble's Officium (translated to sense of duty, respect, service and allegiance). Spending the last day of the year this way is comforting, and allows me to continue to grieve appropriately. Officium transports me to another place and time, quasi-religious, celestial, meditative. The solo saxophone calls out as if speaking, questioning, affirming. It's not for everyone. This recording will never climb the charts, especially in today's shallow world of noise and self-importance. I would say if you're an "old soul," try listening to this gift of creativity and inspiration. It just might become one of the most valuable recordings you own - as it has for me ...

Mixed feelings about mixed genres.......2006-01-18

Although I enjoy listening to these recordings for their serenity and sense of magical wonder, I tend to sympathise with some of the less glowing reviewers. My favourite passages are, without a shadow of a doubt, those in which the eminent Mr Garbarek's sax is 'tacit' or, at least, 'pianissimo'. Indeed, from time to time I struggle with an impulse to shout out: "Oh shut up, Jan, and let me listen to those wonderful singers!" That said, the voices and the sax do sometimes synergise, though I get the distinct impression that Mr Garbarek was simply overdubbing an existing recording by the Hilliard Ensemble: he seems to be reacting to them, but not vice versa. And with more rehearsal, his notes might have been more appropriate. FINAL VERDICT: an interesting oddity, not an unmitigated success.

Wow........2005-10-12

Gregorian chant is one form of music. If you must have it in the pure form, go elsewhere.

Jazz sax is another form of music. If you are offended by restraining the sax to a gentle, wistful, melodious exploration, go elsewhere.

Otherwise, consider a rope: consisting of several smaller strands, a rope is a strong, limber, powerful thing which can achieve a great deal more than the strands from which it is woven. This music is a rope. The saxophone entwines itself inextricably through, above and around the unearthly vocals of the Hilliard ensemble. Neither the highly disciplined music of the singers, nor the restrained music of the saxophone makes a deeply powerful statement in its own right -- but together, they become something above and beyond, something that completely transcends either genre.

This is an astonishing work. If you have the ability to listen, you will be rewarded beyond your hopes.

What Coltrane hears in heaven.......2005-07-16

If you haven't heard any of these tracks before, then almost nothing can prepare you for them. I do feel sorry for those listeners whose sensibilities have been outraged, and who believe that these songs are set in stone, and that no kind of improvisation is legal. The effect must be like seeing (as Prince Charles remarked of a modern building in London) a carbuncle on the face of a loved old friend.

Horrified reactions are, however, in the minority, since this album has sold in immense quantities -- and the reason is the ravishing beauty of the music, which is accessible to anyone with musical ears.

As with several Garbarek recordings, the sax occasionally seems louder than necessary, but then Garbarek must be a difficult performer to record, since his tonal range is so huge.

The natural melodies that flow from Garbarek's three horns have always had an air of belonging half a millennium away from the present; and his genius as a performer enables him to add a fifth voice to these ancient compositions that I am certain the original composers would have found far less shocking than the modern listeners who think them sacrilegious.

This music is heavenly and indescribable, but I urge anyone on this page to listen to the samples (bearing in mind that the sound is ravishing on a proper stereo) and make up your own mind.

Music is nobody's loved old friend, but a great city that needs to keep growing for ever, and this is a wonderful new building to dwell in and perceive beauty.

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a voice teacher and early music fan
What you would expect from Kings
Lovely til the end.
Vintage King's!
King's College Choir Proves Its Mastery Again

Music For Holy Week

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Miserere
Passiontide at St. Paul's (A sequence of music for Lent, Passiontide and Easter)
Images of Christ
Great Choral Classics from King's Choir of King's College, Cambridge
The Psalms of David from Kings Choir of Kings College, Cambridge, Vol. 1

ASIN: B000002S5K
Release Date: 1995-02-14

Tracks:

Lamentations of Jeremiah I: Incipit lamentatio
Lamentations of Jeremiah I: Aleph
Lamentations of Jeremiah I: Beth
Lamentations of Jeremiah II: De lamentatione
Lamentations of Jeremiah II: Ghimel
Lamentations of Jeremiah II: Daleth
Lamentations of Jeremiah II: Heth
O nata lux
Salvator mundi
If Ye Love Me
Cruicifixus
There Is A Green Hill Far Away
O vos omnes
Nolo mortem peccatoris
Tristis est anima mea
Crux fidelis
Videte omnes populi
Drop, Drop, Slow Tears
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Dum transisset Sabbatum I
Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
This Joyful Eastertide
Haec dies
Let All The World In Every Corner Sing!

Customer Reviews:

a voice teacher and early music fan.......2007-02-15

Perfection in delivery and hauntingly beautiful tone quality mark this performance of some glorious holy week music. The Choir of King's College is made up of approximately 30 members, 16 are the young boy choristers and 14 are the undergraduates, who are referred to as Scholars. This particular disc shows 2 different recording times:The Tallis selections comprising the first half of the record were recorded in 1981; the second half (of varied composers )was recorded in 1977. So we cannot be sure that all the personnel were the same, not that it really matters, because it is all so very excellent. HOwever, I think that the Tallis half sounds like only the Scholars were singing, because there are no boy sopranos, as in the 2nd half. Be that as it may, I'll comment on just a few of the works that I particularly enjoyed.
ALL OF THE TALLIS: "The Lamentations of Jeremiah" are usually transmitted as a single piece in most contemporary manuscripts, but they are really two separate compositions in different modes. Tallis and his contemporary John Sheppard were the only 2 English composers of the time to compose hymn settings of any quality. It has been suggested that they had it in mind to compose a cycle of settings for Mary Tudor's chapel. "O Nata lux" may belong to this Marian set. It is almost entirely homophonic, and relies rhetorically upon a flexible declamatory style. " Salvator Mundi" is one of Tallis's best-known motets. The masterly treatment of imitative writing is combined with a fine sense of structure and balance, achieved through repetition, to give a sense of large-scale design, a feature characteristic of Tallis's best large-scale compositions. And the most beautiful anthem on the disc: Tallis's "If Ye Love Me".
So much wonderful music, exquisitely sung; a delcious Easter treat!
I would like to mention to any Michael Chance fans who read this, he is definitely singing on this recording. In the first half it is very obvious, but I do think he is also on the 2nd half. He would have been with King's at this time. Just some trivia for those who are interested.

What you would expect from Kings.......2005-03-23

This is a good recording--you wouldn't expect anything else from this choir. They just sing really well. Diction, tone, everything. Just great performance.

I disagree, as I usually do with Kings, with some of the repertoire selected. The Tallis Lamentations at the beginnning are sung well, but, quite honestly, I usually skip them because they're boring and I want to listen to a variety of pieces on the recording. The Lotti and Sheppard are also disastrous, not because of the performance, just because, in my opinion, they are disastrous as music anyway.

The hymns are probably the best music on this recording. They exemplify the true passion of the season. The other motets (besides the Lamentations) by Tallis are excellent. Leighton's "Let all the world", while I hate singing it, is an effective way to close the recording.

Overall, a good addition to your music library, but not a necessary one.

Lovely til the end........2004-03-13

The music on this cd brings home the beauty of the loftiest, most beautiful cathedrals of Europe, and is fitting of the subject matter therein: the death and resurection of Christ. The only thing I have to complain about is the last selection. TERRIBLE! Forgive me, but I tried to listen to it with open mind and open heart... but everytime, the word terrible came to mind. I would try to keep my twitching fingers away from the skip buttom; but again, every time, I found my arm going straight for it. The last selection sounds like a horrible, tragicly corny and rediculous church-circus joke. The rest of the cd is gorgious. I'm just not into that new-age sound-- or whatever it's supposed to be. Did I mention that the last selection on this cd is repulsive? If I didn't, well, let me say that it stinks!!! Buy the cd anyway, and do like I do and skip the last selection... unless of course you have found a way to tollerate it.

Vintage King's!.......2001-10-30

Superb ensemble singing from simply one of the finest choirs in the world. Philip Ledger's tenure at king's was relatively short but he produced a sublime sound from the choir. Then are many jewels on this disc from Lotti's 'Crucifixus' to the simply beautiful interpretation of Orlando Gibbon's 'Drop, drop slow tears'
Highly recommended.

King's College Choir Proves Its Mastery Again.......2001-03-20

I have been extremely hungry to hear English Tudor composers lately and came across this CD. Since it contained works by Tallis, Morley, Gibbons, Taverner and Sheppard, was sung by my favorite choir, and was very reasonably priced, I figured I had nothing to lose. Everything else on the disc was frosting on the cake.

I am especially delighted with the attention to program on this CD. From following Tallis's lavishly dense "Lamentations" with his thrillingly sparse "O Nata Lux" (full of tasty cross relations), to following Taverner's "Dum transisset Sabbatum I" with the well known Easter hymn, "Jesus Christ is risen today," careful attention is given to pacing and contrast over the generous 73 min 18 sec of the recording.

If I were to select two items worthy of special note, I'd point you to Lotti's "Crucifixus" and Kenneth Leighton's "Let all the world in every corner sing." The first is certainly the most exquisite use of dissonance I've ever heard in a Baroque choral work. Burney records in his 1770 diaries that the Italian choir brought him to tears when it nailed the entries on dissonant suspensions, and this recording shows you exactly what he was talking about. In the context of this program, Leighton's anthem is also a thrilling piece of work. Though decidedly modern, it uses modern organ and choral writing to the service of the text. Never do I pull back and think, "Is this weirdness for weirdness' sake?" -- as I do when listening to the works of many moderns, and Gesualdo, for that matter. It is a thrilling ride on the crest of a wave of sound that brings the entire program of King's College Choir's "Music for Holy Week" to an exhilarating conclusion. (I don't know any other work by him. Surely this isn't unique in his catalog.)

Chant Mozarabe - Cathedrale de Tolede (15th century) /Ensemble Organum * Peres
Average customer rating:

early christian music

Mozarabic Chant - Emphasis on ARABIC

Byzantine Chant in Latin/Latin sung in Byzantine Chant

The Latin Mass meets the Arab Moors

Chant Mozarabe - Cathedrale de Tolede (15th century) /Ensemble Organum * Peres
Ensemble Organum
Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Early Music | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
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Vocal & Song | Early Music | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music | Requiems
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Chant Corse: Manuscrits franciscains (17th-18th century) /Ensemble Organum * Peres

ASIN: B00000079Y
Release Date: 1995-06-20

Tracks:

Office Des Lectures: Invocation Sacerdotale D'intro: Per Gloriam Nominis Tui - Marcel Peres/Frederic Richard
Office Des Lectures: Officium: Alleluia, Ortus Conclusus - Jerome Casalonga
Office Des Lectures: Goria in Excelsis Deo - Jerome Casalonga
Office Des Lectures: Benedictus Es (Hymne Des Trois Enfants Dans La Fournaise) - Marcel Peres/Frederic Richard
Office Des Lectures: Psallendo: Beatus Vir (Commun D'un Pontife Martyr) - Lycourgos Angelopoulos/Malcolm Bothwell
Office Des Lectures: Evangile: Mathieu, 24, 27-35 - Marcel Peres/Frederic Richard
Office Des Lectures: Lauda: Alleluia Exultabit Justus (Commun D'un Pontife Martyr) - Jean-Pierre Lanfranchi
Office Des Lectures: Preces: Penitentes Orate (Monition Diaconale) - Marcel Peres/Frederic Richard
Office Des Lectures: Sacrificium: Vox Clamantis (Dimanche Avant La St. Jean Baptiste) - Jean-Etienne Langiani
Priere Eucharistique: Petre: Gratias Dei Patris - Marcel Peres/Frederic Richard
Priere Eucharistique: Chor: Pacem Meam Do Vobis - Jean-Pierre Lanfranchi
Priere Eucharistique: Pretre: Introibo Ad Altare Dei - Marcel Peres/Frederic Richard
Priere Eucharistique: Preface - Marcel Peres/Frederic Richard
Priere Eucharistique: Sanctus - Ens Organum/Marcel Peres
Priere Eucharistique: Ad Confractionem Panis: Qui Venit Ad Me Non Esuriet - Jerome Casalonga
Priere Eucharistique: Pretre: Humiliate Vos Ad Benedictionem! - Marcel Peres/Frederic Richard
Priere Eucharistique: Ad Accedentes: Gustate Et Videte - Marcel Peres/Frederic Richard
Priere Eucharistique: Diacre: Vicit Leo De Tribu Juda - Jean-Etienne Langiani
Priere Eucharistique: Lauda: Speravit (Lucernarium Pour Les Vepres) - Lycourgos Angelopoulos/Malcolm Bothwell

Customer Reviews:

early christian music.......2007-04-19

Great music this is the music practiced in the early centuries of the Church, before the western church destoryed a lot of it.This is so emotionally it energizes you to praise God. They did a great job reconstructing the chants Great Buy

Mozarabic Chant - Emphasis on ARABIC.......2006-03-25

I'm sure other reviewers comments about this work and generally about Mozarabic chant in general are true. Christianity originated in the east and Mozarabic chant's less polished, austere qualities most likely resembles ancient christian chant. The quality of the work is unquestioned.

But for a person whose hearing sensibilities have been so influenced by western gregorian chant, the heavy arabic influence in the music may prove a hard listen for the western ear.

You definately want to listen to the samples before purchase.

Byzantine Chant in Latin/Latin sung in Byzantine Chant.......2001-09-07

It is Byzantine Chant sung in Latin. Think of Latin hymns sung by a Byzantine soloist, two or more singers, or a choir. Lycorgos Angelopoulos is a godsend as he finally sings the Latin hymns right because I have always wondered what the Latin would sound like sung by somebody with a thick Greek accent.This recording is similar to other recordings by the Ensemble Organum. The melodies are characterized by an ison(drone). Marcel Peres also does a fine job of singing Byzantine Chant in Latin even though he is not Greek.To me, this singing is THE original Gregorian Chant and what Gregorian Chant should sound like. The Gregorian Chant that most people hear and think of as Greg. Chant is actually the Solesmes style which is an interpretation of Greg. Chant and should not be synonymous with Greg.Chant. The Solesmes style is too polished and refined for early Christian chant and is therefore not historically accurate even though it is the official one used in the Latin rite(not Latin language) since 1850. Early Christian chant to me sounded more austere and ascetic and this recording along with the other Ensemble Organum recordings(Old Roman Chant, Beneventan Chant, Ambrosian Chant, etc.) proves that this is what Gregorian Chant really and originally sounded like.

The Latin Mass meets the Arab Moors.......2001-08-20

Marcel Peres has done a fine job of recording an excellent representation (and in the process made available) of one of the rarest and least-known of all liturgical traditions.

The Mozarabic Rite, which survives in the Spanish cathedrals of Toledo and Salamanca alone, is a sumptuous feast for the ears and senses. Combining the immortal Latin phraseology of the Mass and its various parts, the Mozarabic tradition colors them with a temperament totally unique. Diverging from the unadorned, simple, appropriately named plain-chant of the Gregorian tradition, the Mozarabic formula incorporates Arab musical influences to the most Christian of events, the sacrifice of the Mass and holy communion.

Peres' Ensemble Organum does a head-dizzying job of making the melismatas (long variations and note changes on one vowel or sound) breathlessly exciting to listen to. Its apparent at once that this music is singular among the world's traditions, and deserves to be heard by more people. It is a masterful recording, done in Toledo's Capilla Mozarabe (Mozarabic Chapel) in the Cathedral, and even without the visual stimulation of the church, the music alone with the magnificent acoustics transports the listener 1,000 years back to days when the Christian Mozarabes developed a rite all their own amidst Islamic controlled Moorish Spain. This disc should be of interest to any sociologist or historian of Spain and especially Spain of the Mediaeval Age. The political and social confrontations of the two cultures - European Christian and Arabic Muslim - produce an exotic result that we may enjoy today.

The music is first-rate, but if another reason is needed, it is the rarity of this type of recording. A low-priced, excellent disc of this repertoire is, quite simply, impossible to find elsewhere. You may find a track on perhaps one or two other chronological collections of western liturgical music, but no other complete recording exists devoted wholly to the style. Marcel Peres is known for his exhaustive research into authenticity and his drive to accurately record liturgical rites as they were really heard in their heyday - and in this instance he performs admirably. Participate in the Mass of the Mozarabic people and enjoy an experience that will undoubtedly highlight the cultural connection between east and west and may also spark an interest in further exploration of the rite and its times!

Officium Sancti Willibrordi
Average customer rating:

Excellent! But English text lacking

Officium Sancti Willibrordi

Manufacturer: K617 Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Early Music | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000283B0
Release Date: 1996-10-01

Customer Reviews:

Excellent! But English text lacking.......2005-08-20

When I was honeymooning in Europe my husband and I accidently stumbled into Saint Willibrod's Cathedral in Echternach, Luxemborg. We bought this albumn there, and was absolutely enchanted. It is an all-male Gregorian choir, obviously, and the hymns have some of the most ancient origins of any Gregorian chanting anywhere recorded.

One complaint, the booklet gives the Latin translation in French, German, and English, yet when it comes to the introductory material the English comes up short, the life of Saint Willibrod is given in German on page 1, but is nowhere repeated in English! Fortunately my husband knows German, but it is mildly annoying.

Victoria - Officium Defunctorum (Office of the Dead)

Average customer rating:

Victoria - Officium Defunctorum (Office of the Dead)
Victoria , Philip Cave , and Magnificat
Manufacturer: Linn Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Renaissance (c.1450-1600) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00002Z841
Release Date: 1999-11-16

Tracks:

Taedet Animam Meam
Ego Sum Resurrectio
Benedictus Dominus Deus
Introitus: Requiem Aeternam
Kyrie Eleison
Graduale: Requiem Aeternam
Offertorium: Domine Iesu Christe
Sanctus: Benedictus
Agnus Dei
Communio: Lux Aeterna
Motectum: Versa Est In Luctum
Absolutio: Libera Me

Amazon.com

Tomás Luís de Victoria's Officium Defunctorum (a.k.a. Requiem) has become enough of a sacred music warhorse to make a jaded reviewer groan, "Not again!" What's more, the work's popularity has skewed the modern public's view of Victoria, giving him a reputation for dark and intense Iberian mysticism when his contemporaries considered him a basically joyous composer (see, for example, the Mass and motet O quam gloriosum). Yet with a well-judged crescendo on the very first chord of the disc, Philip Cave and his choir grab your attention and won't let go. Magnificat performs the Requiem even more cleanly and precisely than do the famously immaculate Tallis Scholars--yet with a warmth and dynamic subtlety the more famous group sometimes lacks. (As it happens, Cave is a Tallis Scholar himself; his singers work regularly with the Sixteen, the Gabrieli Consort, and the like.) Most strikingly, the choir's sound has a dulcet glow that seems to link the Requiem directly with Victoria's more cheerful music. Paul McCreesh and Gabrieli Consort bring out more of the Requiem's drama and intensity (and a better idea of how Victoria intended it to be used), but Magnificat's performance, like no other, captures its sweetness and light. --Matthew Westphal

Victoria: Requiem - Officium defunctorum (1605) / McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort

Average customer rating:

totally grew on me
El mejor de los Requiem Renacentistas Hispanos
Great Singing, Annoying Format and Recording Job
Haunting...stunningly beautiful singing.
Excellent

Victoria: Requiem - Officium defunctorum (1605) / McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort
Tomás Luis de Victoria , Paul McCreesh , and Gabrieli Consort
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B0000057F2
Release Date: 2005-03-21

Tracks:

Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Lectio II ad Matutinum: Taedet animam meam
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Introitus: Requiem aeternam
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Kyrie
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Oratorio
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Epistola
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Graduale: Requiem aeternam
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Tractus: Absolve, Dominine
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Sequentia: Dies irae
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Evangelium
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Offerorium: Domine Iesu Christe
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Prefatio
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Sanctus
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Benedictus
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Pater noster
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Agnus Dei
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Communio: Lux aeterna
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Postcommunio
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Motectum: Versa est in luctum
Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Absolutio: Libera me, Domine

Amazon.com essential recording

Victoria's famous Requiem, fully titled Officium defunctorum ("Office for the Dead"), published in 1605, was composed for the funeral of the Dowager Empress Maria (daughter of Charles V, sister of Philip II, wife of Emperor Maximilian) in 1603 in Madrid. Paul McCreesh's recording aims to re-create that service, with prayers and chants (including the well-known Dies irae, not set by Victoria) in their liturgical sequence. This alternation of chant and polyphony gives a good idea--better than would Victoria's polyphony alone--of just how solemn and sumptuous the Empress's funeral was. This wouldn't matter, of course, if the Gabrieli Consort's performance of this bewitchingly melancholy music were anything less than excellent. It's that and more--as the music progresses, the singing becomes more involved and intense; by the time the Sanctus arrives, it is transcendent. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews:

totally grew on me.......2006-01-13

At first I didn't like this recording much because I thought the chants were boring & got in the way of the music, but now they're not so bad. If you like the Tallis Scholars, Orlando Consort or the Sixteen you'll probably like this recording since a few members of the choir on this disc also record with them (Donald Grieg, Robert Harre-Jones, ,Timothy Wilson, Angus Smith, Robert Evans, Francis Steele). The chants, etc don't detract so much from this recording as I first thought; I think I prefer it with them now. The parts with actual singing are outstanding; I've heard other recordings with women sopranos/altos/etc & the sound is usually brighter/lighter; this one has an all-male choir which sounds richer & darker. The opening movements (intro, kyrie, etc) are serene & peaceful, and the sanctus/benedictus are very intense. They're too short though! I don't know if they're supposed to be traditionally but I wish Victoria had more lol.

El mejor de los Requiem Renacentistas Hispanos.......2005-04-03

Una obra sublime, brillante
llena del misticismo y el
fervor Hispanico. Este es
uno de los mejores "Officium
Defunctorum" proveniente de Espana.
Tomas Luis de Victoria es uno
de los mejores exponentes del arte
musical sacro, lo que lo hace uno
los miembros de "La triada Espanola"
los otros dos compositores son Guerrero
y Morales. El Requiem de 1603 de Tomas
Luis de VIctoria fue compuesto para las
exequias de la emperatriz Maria de Austria.
En esta grabaccion el director Paul McCreesh
nos presenta la obra como fue presentada en
las exequias de la emperatriz, el director
incluye algunos cantos gregorianos asi como
lo hizo Victoria en aquel entonces, tal
practica colabora a completar la liturgia.
Este es un disco de maxima recomendaccion
el conjunto Gabrielli Consort hace
un trabajo formidable...

Great Singing, Annoying Format and Recording Job.......2002-03-09

This disc of the "Requiem" contains some of the best singing I have ever heard, and the interpretation of Victoria's music is unmatched for dramatic intensity. However, (and for me these are significant howevers), both the presentation and recording job are problematic. Like many of McCreesh's recordings, this is a reconstruction. If you have never been at a Catholic high Mass in the old style, or are a liturgical historian, it may be interesting, once or twice, to hear the context in which the "Requiem" originally was heard. That being said, though, the ordinary chants, including the chanted readings, are frankly ordinary, utilitarian, tedious, and of minimal musical interest. The one exception here is the "Dies Irae", sung in its entirety. All told, you have to program out about 25% of this disc to listen to just the Victoria music. The other caveat is that for some reason the sibilant sounds, and the t's and p's, are REALLY prominent in the mix. If you've got equipment that can minimize this, you're way ahead, sonically.

Haunting...stunningly beautiful singing........2002-01-06

The all male chorus of the Gabrielli Consort under the direction of McCreesh sing with impeccable beauty. The ethereal quality apt for a Requiem setting is perfectly realized conveying effectively a pious reverent quality suitable for this piece.

Excellent.......2001-03-21

This is an outstanding recording of some gorgeous polyphony, and the quality of McCreesh's falsettos is sometimes breathtaking, always top-notch. In addition, some of the details of the performance are surprising, especially for listeners brought up on excellent but monochromatic renditions of Renaissance choral music. The low string drone-- which, as far as I can tell, is played on some version of the hurdy-gurdy-- only enhances some of the polyphonic sections, and certainly adds to the interest of most of the monophonic chants. Which brings me to my one caveat: while McCreesh's recontextualizing projects are, with few exceptions, fascinating, I have to admit that when I put this disc on, I almost always skip around to reach the polyphonic tracks. From a musicological point of view, there is nothing to be lost and everything to be gained by recentering the "work" in its likely contemporary musical and liturgical setting. It is, however, always a question of degrees: should one only listen to the work in a chuch? after someone has died? It's silly to ask, I know, but it's just as silly to deny the fact that, for a modern "concert" audience, appreciation of the Missa is going to proceed along different lines. Having said that, I can still recommend this issue with few reservations.

Le jeu des pelerins d'Emmaus (Play of the Pilgrims to Emmaus - a 12th century liturgical drama) /Ensemble Organum * Peres

Average customer rating:

Le jeu des pelerins d'Emmaus (Play of the Pilgrims to Emmaus - a 12th century liturgical drama) /Ensemble Organum * Peres
Ensemble Organum
Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000027O5S
Release Date: 1992-12-09

Music Review:

Music Review

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