Beyond Chant: Mysteries Of The Renaissance

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Go right to the first track and prepare for one of the most masterful and stylish performances of Palestrina that you'll ever hear. It's not flashy music nor is the singing especially virtuosic, but the unified phrasing, ideal balance among sections, and overall ensemble technique is impressive, and Palestrina's little motet simply opens and displays itself like a beautiful flower. The rest of the program, which includes a variety of beautiful flowers from composers such as Josquin, Sweelinck, and Tallis, maintains the same standard. Anyone looking for an introduction to Renaissance sacred choral music will find much here to encourage further exploration--standards like Byrd's "Ave verum corpus" and Victoria's "O magnum mysterium"-- and lesser known tiny masterpieces such as Victoria's "Jesu, dulcis memoria." The Voices of Ascension ranks with the world's finest choirs, and this recording reflects both the highest standard of choral singing and the highest standard of choral composition during the Renaissance. --David Vernier

Tracks:

Sicut Cervus
Ave Maria
Justorum Animae
Jesu Rex admirabilis
Exultate Deo
Exultate Justi
Jesu,Dulcis Memoria
Ave Verum Corpus
Psalm 90
Psalm 96
Hodie Christus Natus Est
O Maria Virgo Pia
Tu Pauperum Refugium
O Sacrum Convivium
If Ye Love Me,Keep My Commandments
Hosanna To The Son Of David
O Quam Gloriosum
Selig sind die Toten
Heu Nos Miseros
Exaltabo Te
O Sing Joyfully
O Magnum Mysterium
Laudate Nomen
Cantate Domino

Amazon.com

Go right to the first track and prepare for one of the most masterful and stylish performances of Palestrina that you'll ever hear. It's not flashy music nor is the singing especially virtuosic, but the unified phrasing, ideal balance among sections, and overall ensemble technique is impressive, and Palestrina's little motet simply opens and displays itself like a beautiful flower. The rest of the program, which includes a variety of beautiful flowers from composers such as Josquin, Sweelinck, and Tallis, maintains the same standard. Anyone looking for an introduction to Renaissance sacred choral music will find much here to encourage further exploration--standards like Byrd's "Ave verum corpus" and Victoria's "O magnum mysterium"-- and lesser known tiny masterpieces such as Victoria's "Jesu, dulcis memoria." The Voices of Ascension ranks with the world's finest choirs, and this recording reflects both the highest standard of choral singing and the highest standard of choral composition during the Renaissance. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

Great literature... but thats about it.......2007-06-17

This cd was mildly dissapointing, to say the least. The literature is fantastic. Some of the greats are featured on here with some of their best works. No doubt a great taste of the Renaissance, especially for someone new to it. However, I'm sorry to say that the performance is second-rate, at best. Dennis Keene apparently is either unaware, or just simply understudied when it comes to the Renaissance. He shows an incredible lack of messa di voce, which was what drove the counterpoint of the Renaissance. His interpretations rob this music of its deeply personal purpose. I would suggest the Hilliard Ensemble over any ensemble for Renaissance literature, and find it dissapointing that so many people praise such emotionless, understudied Renaissance ensembels such as the Voices of Ascension, the Tallis Scholars, and the Oxford Camerata, just to name a few. Very good literature... But always pick the Hilliard Ensemble or Anthony Rooley's Consort of Musike when you have the option. It seems like Paul Hillier and Anthony Rooley are the only two true Renaissance scholars currently conducting ensembles.

Essential listening........2007-03-05

This was my first CD of Renaissance choral music, as it undoubtably has been for a great many people. It offers the best possible introduction to the genre for 2 main reasons: 1. No other CD of Renaissance choral music contains such a varied cross-section of early to late Renaissance sacred music styles. 2. The performance and recording quality are fabulous.

Keene uses a variety of different voicings and numbers of singers according to the needs of each particular piece, sometimes with only 2 on a part. The ensemble heard on this recording is a select professional core of The Voices Of Ascension, one of the best choral groups in the country. The voices are all very rich and resonant, and the intonation through the entire CD is unquestionably on par with the best in the world. The singing is, for the most part, completelly vibratoless and extremely smooth, which creates a gorgeous purity that allows this music to shine. However, it does become strident at times, which may put off some choral conductors who are strongly against straight-tone singing.

Of particularly high quality and beauty are the Viadana "Exultate Justi", Byrd's "Ave Verum Corpus", Tallis' "O Sacrum Convivium", and the Victoria and Sweelinck pieces. Another extraordinary track is Leonardo Leo's "Heu Nos Miseros", a late Baroque piece included because of its influence from earlier styles. It is a 9 part double choir piece full of extravigant dissonances and emotion, performed breathtakingly.

Captivating!.......2006-04-12

I was christened as a choral music fan once, as a college student, I heard the music of the Cambridge Singers. Inundated with classical music for years, how could I never have heard such music?! It was as if my musical senses were born anew: for it was with the same awe as a child encountering the world for the first time, that I discovered this novel and fascinating world of a cappella choral music. There were landmark discoveries along the way: Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge; Concordia Choir; St. Olaf Choir; the Dale Warland Singers; the Kansas City Chorale; Kantorei; the West Coast Mennonite Chamber Singers...and (as you expected!) I must end with the Voices of Ascension. The clarity of their pure voices can only be paralleled by the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge. Chant haters, do not avoid this CD - you will find no chants here! Chants hold absolutely NO intrigue for me and I cannot endure listening to them for long periods of time. By contrast, this music, aptly named "Beyond Chant," truly does uncover hidden musical treasures of the Renaissance for those who would ordinarily avoid such music. The intricately woven a cappella harmonies are captivating and satisfying. I highly recommend this CD to all choral music fans.

Lofty music.......2005-10-14

Some of the earliest pieces of Christian music are the various kinds of chant. These hearken back to synagogue singing; there were various kinds of chant, including Gregorian, Old Roman, Mozarabic, Cistercian and Anglican chant. These tend toward the monophonic, singing with a single 'tune' or lone. They are generally without regular beats or set meters. However, in the Renaissance, monophonic chant grew into a polyphonic form, and this is one of the most glorious eras of music. (My shelves at home are filled with CDs of this sort.) Composers in this era include many represented on this disc - Palestrina, Desprez, Victoria, Lassus, Byrd, Gibbons and Tallis were some of the leading lights of the time. Lesser known but still glorious include Tye, Viadana, Sweelinck, Hassler, Batten and Schutz.

One of the interesting features of this disc is that it includes three pieces by Sweelinck, two psalm settings and 'Hodie Christus Natus Est'. (Sweelinck is very under-represented in recording and performance today). Some pieces are very well known - Byrd's 'Ave Verum Corpus' is perhaps one of the most familiar pieces from this period, as is Palestrina's 'Exultate Deo'. This is a collection that draws from the breadth of the Western Christian tradition of music from this time, with composers from Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Spain.

The composers here wrote liturgical music for Masses and other worship services, as well as other pieces - motets and other kinds of new music. This disc represents music that is two or three steps removed from plainsong and basic forms of chant - some are quite a bit distant. Viadana's composition for 'Exultate Justi', for example, was actually composed later, and despite being done in a more Renaissance style, shows decided influences of the Baroque (this might also be part of the performance of the Voices of the Ascension that gives this impression).

The Voices of Ascension, under the direction of Dennis Keene, grew out of the choir of the Church of the Ascension in New York City. Many of the singers are active soloists in addition to being part of this group (whose numbers vary, but often around 40). Keene is a conductor, organist and teacher (not an uncommon combination). Trained at Juilliard, he has led the Voices of Ascension through many outstanding recordings and performances.

This is a performance that is definitely uplifting, and a good collection of music in its breadth to introduce the glories of Renaissance polyphony to those who with little exposure to it. The recording quality is very good, and the choir is quite full and well suited for the music. Some have commented upon the tempo, but this was not a concern for me, and did not stand out as unusual or a problem upon listening (indeed, there were a few points at which I might wish for it to be a bit faster, rather than slower).

A collection that soars!

Slow down Maestro !.......2004-01-04

Another reviewer writing about another album by Dennis Keene wrote:

"Yet the performance is not the slowly flowing honey usually served up by, say, the Tallis Scholars (as good as that is). Particularly in the Gloria and Credo of the Mass, Dennis Keene deliberately de-emphasizes the rise and fall of the different voices' lines in favor of a more naturally speech-like declamation of the long Latin texts. This means a surprisingly fast tempo--and some rhythmic spring and syncopation one might not expect in Palestrina. Some (not all) of the motets get a similar treatment: it works well in joyous pieces like the Pentecost motet Dum complerentur, but listeners might miss that melodic rise and fall in some of the slower works. The singers of Voices of Ascension are quite skillful, and the slight edge in their tone helps make the different melodies unusually audible. Very worthwhile, but not your father's Palestrina."

As a matter of fact, I used to like this album quite much although it was certainly not my favorite. That was until I listened to Robert shaw's "O Magnum Mysterium", which is amedley of Renaissance, negro spiritual, Russian and Western contemporary religious music. I was struck by Shaw's profoundly spiritual interpretation of the pieces by Victoria and Tallis that are also recorded on "Beyond Chant".

From then on I could no longer listen to this cd without feeling feeling increasingly dissatisfied. I tried to find a precise reason and not being a music specialist I was quite at a loss until I found the review above. Maybe the quick tempo is the key to my dislike.

I definitely feel that Dennis Keene and his singers do not have the depth of the Robert Shaw Festival Singers although the booklet accompanying the cd claims that the audience was spellbound by their performance, which took place in a cathedral in New York.

You may have a more gratifying experience if you buy a cd by the Tallis Scholars, Robert Shaw ("O Magnum Mysterium"), Pomerium(see their wonderful "Book of Hours") or even by the French countertenors and baritones of the Organum Ensemble ("Missa Pange Lingua").

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