Miserere/Vox Patris Caelestis/

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Three of the greatest masterpieces of a cappella church music are presented on this predigital Tallis Scholars recording from 1980. Allegri's immortal but structurally simple Miserere has perhaps received more recordings than it deserves--its popularity primarily rests in the acoustical effect of its spectacular, recurring high soprano solo. But, as we hear in this outstanding, well-paced performance, it never fails to impress, no matter how many times we hear it. Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli also is one of the most frequently performed Renaissance works--and it's a true masterpiece that the Tallis Scholars know how to perform as well as, or better than, anyone else. Mundy's "Vox Patris Caelestis," written at the same time as Palestrina's mass, is here because the Tallis Scholars wished to introduce us to an English masterpiece--and they make a convincing case for it. --David Vernier

Tracks:

Miserere
Vox Patris Caelestis
Missa Papae Marcelli: Kyrie
Missa Papae Marcelli: Gloria
Missa Papae Marcelli: Credo
Missa Papae Marcelli: Sanctus & Benedictus
Missa Papae Marcelli: Agnus Dei I & II

Amazon.com

Here's a wonderful introduction to Renaissance choral music, with two tried-and-true repertory standards and the Mundy, a gorgeously sensuous example of a lesser-known mid-16th-century work, whose complex polyphonic strands are rendered with compelling involvement by the Tallis Scholars. These performances were among the group's earliest recordings and helped catapult them into the forefront of specialists in this demanding repertoire. The Allegri became a favorite back in the 1970s, a sort of choral equivalent of Albinoni's Adagio, in which repetition serves as the driving force. The Tallis Scholars give it welcome variety through spatial placement in a large church and their colorful singing. Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli is one of that great composer's finest works. Its mastery of polyphony while clarifying the text is said to have convinced the Church to withhold its impending ban on polyphonic church music. The group sounds larger than its 21 members because of the acoustics, the clear diction of the Scholars, and the power of their singing, always transparent and involved. They use female sopranos instead of boys' voices, so there's more heft and color than we often hear from early-music groups. Vivid engineering makes the CD even more attractive. --Dan Davis

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Startlingly familiar music.......2006-11-14

This is haunting music that most people may not remember specifically but when they hear it again will recall it immediately. Mozart as a child was instantly in awe of this music. He tried to get his hands on the score but it was hidden away as a secret. So Mozart listened and copied. That is how this music first became public. It is not often heard today but if and when you hear it you will be struck as if by lightning. This recording is clear as a bell. The Tallis Scholars are an amazing group. I saw them live in 2006 and note that this recording was made in 1980. Both the recording and their live performance demonstrate amazing scholarship and attention to detail both in performance practice and acoustics.

Ertherial Music.......2006-11-10

Unlike other reviewers of the Miserere on this site, I have neither the credentials nor the eloquence to prove why you should purchase this recording for your collection. I can only say that you will be thrilled by the beauty and depth of the music. When I've been stressed out, I have only to listen for a few moments before I begin to feel my breathing slow and my shoulders relax. I've had this music playing quietly in the background along with other selections of jazz and/or new age during an evening, and invariably a guest who hasn't heard it will lift their head and turn their ear toward the music. I've even had friends ask me to get the CD cover so they can take down the information. Listen to some of the sample strings on this site and you will want to hear the Miserere in its entirety.

12AX7 Anyone?.......2006-07-19

This is perhaps the most holographic recording I've ever heard. We're talking STEREO here, not hokey multi-channel nonsense creating the sense of "ambiance" by chachaphonally tossing unrelated channels of sound to reflect from every surface possible.

This is the real thing.

Two eyes & your CNS 'resolves' depth by combining & extrapolating 'cues' that we see as distance. So is this true of high end audio recordings where the engineers were fully cognizant of how we hear 'dimension'.

Two ears & 1 brain. All that we require to hear depth. In fact, all we CAN use to hear depth for anything beyond this simple yet perfect 'design' corrupts our experience such that we no longer hear depth or placement of musicians but rather we hear chachaphony. Sometimes a pleasent & fun caca-phoney but caca-phoney nonetheless.

A true stereo recording takes the cues just as two ears would and if played back through TWO channels with the design of temporal accuracy at the fore, we will heard TRUE spatial placement of the room in which the recording was made.

In this recording, imagine yourself sitting about 6' in front of a pair of speakers with say, 20' or more BEHIND the speakers. This recording has 3 choirs. One in the fore, one centrally placed & one way in the distance. If your stereo can resolve space-time with any truism, you will hear NOTHING from the speakers (or rather, it seems that way). The first choir will be between the speakers. The 2nd, 6 feet BEHIND the speakers.The last choir is heard as if they are OUTSIDE. So far back they penetrate your walls.

This is what high end audio is about. It eschews confusing multi-channel, only recently did it even embrace digital audio AND most importantly, we love TUBES. Tubed amps/preamps & CD players have none of the coloration of their Silicon counterparts & are to this day, the most linear amplification device known to man (Linearity with NO correction like feedback & it's awful pollution of harmonics & destruction of slew & rise times, try placing a chart of curves of an op-amp or bipolar transistor vs. a triode, not even close).

Pick up an old Dynaco Stereo-70 & a pair of mini-speakers using soft domes & you're 3/4 of the way to the 'underground' truth. A microsociety that lives for music & it's ACCURATE reproduction. For there is no greater joy than when the musicians virtually stand in front of you. You will not hear this with multichannel or even transistor gear, no metal drivers or any other unnatural materials.

A showcase of original RCA masters now abound on many streaming audio websites. Some now play at high enough bitrates to support glorious fidelity.

Navigate through the eary 60s recordings when these discs were recorded with TUBES! I've just recently heard the Tebaldi Tosca on a 1957 RCA. Breathtaking reality as performers walk & sing, on & off stage. Spooky real. But remember to LISTEN & NOT download for MP3 is a sonic disaster with no intent on improving! Compression=depression in the high end audio. "Save yourself Elizabeth, stay away!"

Only through simplicity can we see art & only through a vacuum can music pass without coloration. For what can add color less than nothing?!

5 months after buying, I still listen every day.......2006-04-16

I don't listen to the whole thng every day, but I definitely listen to the Miserere or Missa Papae Marcelli. Allegri's Miserere does get slightly repetitive, but if all the recordings I have I like this one the best. The two choirs sound like they're very far apart, one choir sounding like it's very far from the microphone. Generally this recording is slower than the rest (but not the slowest). The Mundy piece is one on this disc that I listen to the least. Not that it isn't any good, it just isn't a classic like the stuff by Allegri & Palestrina. It starts out very quiet & calm, and over 19 minutes other voices gradually join in one by one & builds to a crescendo for the last ~3mins. The high point by far on this disc is Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli. In contrast to some other composers (like, say, Victoria) whose music is "hot" or "passionate", Palestrina's is "cool", "serene" & "effortless". Mozart's got nothing on Palestrina! Ever since the first time I heard this mass for the first time I have always thought that it is one of the most perfect pieces of music ever composed, & this is probably the best recording out there. The kyrie starts out the mass slightly jubilant & "truimphant"; the gloria is processional; the credo is faster than the rest & slightly intense, especially at the end (though nothing like Victoria). The climax for me is the sanctus, which... well, is the climax! I always get the feeling that everything has building up to that point when I listen. The first agnus dei is somewhat of a continuation of the sanctus/benedictus & when the second agnus dei starts I can tell it's starting to wrap up... which makes me sad :p It's sort of the same feeling you get when you have to say goodbye to someone who's moving away or something lol. All in all, one of my favourite discs ever, and I still listen to parts of it every day.

Very recommendable!.......2005-11-15

This is the only CD by The Tallis Scholars in my collection that I really like; and I have a lot, Josquin, Isaac, de Rore... I think the lot sounds rather antiseptic, clinical; i.e. not the sound, but the performance. In many cases it can be wise to check out other performers than the most famous ones. (The perhaps not so famous Huelgas Ensemble has a very nice Missa Praeter Rerum Seriem.)
Anyway, this early performance is really great!
I agree with the reviewer Brendan, that Allegri's Miserere not is the most interesting piece here. The repetitions make it appealing like modern pop music - repetitions go for ecstasy. Repetitons may also give a meditative effect. The gem for entertaining is in fact the least famous Mundy's Vox patris caelestis, which has a real build-up to an emotional peak. Glorious!
The famous Palestrina-mass sounds very nice on this performance.
Very, very recommendable!

Average customer rating:

a voice teacher and early music fan

Allegri: Miserere

Manufacturer: Gimell UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

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

Renaissance (c.1450-1600) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

The Essential Tallis Scholars
Mozart: Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute)

ASIN: B000B865AA
Release Date: 2005-11-15

Customer Reviews:

a voice teacher and early music fan.......2006-02-03

This recording by the Tallis Scholars under the direction of Peter Phillips is considered by many to be the finest performance of Allegri's "Miserere". This composition is quite simple in construction and much of it's impact relies on the conditions of performance, especially on the acoustic. And so the Tallis Scholars have used a reverberant building. It was recorded in Merton College Chapel,Oxford, and set new standards for recording unaccompanied sacred music. Palestrina's "Missa Papae Marcelli" has five movements. The richness of his music comes from the predominant use of lower voices- two tenors and two basses-with one countertenor and one treble. William Mundy's "Vox Patris caelstis" was written during Queen Mary's reign (1553-1558) and is contemporary with Palestrina's work. Mundy composed on an enormous scale, the audibllity of the words being secondary to the expansion of the melodies. There is much to enjoy on this disc for the early music lover. Of course, one need only see the name "Tallis Scholars", and we know that we will hear the best in tone production, balance, phrasing, diction and appropriate emotion as the music indicates. Listening to this disc is the greatest musical experience not to be matched by any other. This reissue is half the price of the l981 issue. Buy it for its beauty and perfection!

Music Review:

Music Review

music review

Music Review

on the Road: Denver, CO 03-12-04 [Limited Edition] [Live]

Sigismondo D'India: Ecco il sol mirate

Schubert: Die Schöne Müllerin; Winterreise (Box Set) [Box set]

Mercy, Mercy [Live]

Street Beatz [Explicit Lyrics] [Import]

Stretching [Import]

Sortimento [Import]

Sounds from the Crypt

Torrential Reign [Enhanced]

Scriabin Etudes Complete

Speak No Evil [Import]

Paris [Import]

Por Siempre... Junto a Ti

James Sellars: Piano Works

Best of Candlebox