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

Editorial Reviews
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

Victoria: Requiem - Officium defunctorum (1605) / McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort, Music, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort, Choral, Classical, Classical Music, Renaissance Mass
Victoria: Requiem - Officium defunctorum (1605) / McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 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

Sacred & ReligiousSacred & Religious | Renaissance (c.1450-1600) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
McCreesh, PaulMcCreesh, Paul | ( M ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
MassesMasses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Renaissance (c.1450-1600)Renaissance (c.1450-1600) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B0000057F2
Release Date: 2005-03-21

Tracks:

  1. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Lectio II ad Matutinum: Taedet animam meam
  2. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Introitus: Requiem aeternam
  3. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Kyrie
  4. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Oratorio
  5. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Epistola
  6. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Graduale: Requiem aeternam
  7. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Tractus: Absolve, Dominine
  8. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Sequentia: Dies irae
  9. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Evangelium
  10. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Offerorium: Domine Iesu Christe
  11. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Prefatio
  12. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Sanctus
  13. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Benedictus
  14. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Pater noster
  15. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Agnus Dei
  16. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Communio: Lux aeterna
  17. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Postcommunio
  18. Requiem: Officium defunctorum: Motectum: Versa est in luctum
  19. 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:

4 out of 5 stars 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.

5 out of 5 stars 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...

4 out of 5 stars 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.

5 out of 5 stars 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.

4 out of 5 stars 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.
Victoria Requiem: Officium Defunctorum,1605
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Victoria Requiem: Officium Defunctorum,1605

    Manufacturer: Music Heritage Society, Inc
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD
    ASIN: B000E0DJIQ

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