Heavenly Spheres (L'Harmonie des Spheres)

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
If you heard this record in a blind test, you'd probably guess it was Philippe Herreweghe's European Vocal Ensemble or midcareer Tallis Scholars (before their immaculate singing took on a glassy-eyed chill). Surely a choir from some European hotbed of early music like... Montreal?! Yes, indeed. Christopher Jackson and his Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal have been quietly working away up north for years; only in the late 1990s have they been making commercial recordings in a big way. Each one of these discs is better than the last: the group's Palestrina/Victoria release of 1998 and this anthology make a marvelous introduction to the a cappella sacred music of the Renaissance. Jackson and his choir capture the limpid reverence of Josquin's Inviolata and the thick richness of Mouton's Nesciens mater, the melancholy of Gombert's Musae Jovis and the cheer of Victoria's Vidi speciosam, and the combination of all those qualities in Gombert's Tulerunt Dominum meum and Palestrina's Salve Regina for four high voices. What's more, they do it with the same clarity of line and beauty of tone that made the Tallis Scholars world famous. May they have similar success. --Matthew Westphal

Heavenly Spheres (L'Harmonie des Spheres), Music, Nicolas Gombert, Josquin Desprez, Orlande de Lassus, Cristobal de Morales, Jean Mouton, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Tomas Luis de Victoria, Giaches de Wert, Orlando di Lasso, Giovanni Palestrina, Giacches de Wert, Christopher Jackson, Le Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montreal, Christopher Jackson, Choral, Choral Music, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous Music, Motet, Orchestral & Symphonic, Part Song/Glee/Music for Unaccompanied Voices, Renaissance Motet, Vocal, Vocal Music
Heavenly Spheres (L'Harmonie des Spheres)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • I'm no scholar, but this is just lovely!
  • Beautiful, Unhackneyed Music
  • The title says it all...
  • Excellent Harmony! A powerful, yet relaxing experience!
 Heavenly Spheres (L'Harmonie des Spheres)
Nicolas Gombert , Josquin Desprez , Orlande de Lassus , Cristobal de Morales , Jean Mouton , Tomas Luis de Victoria , Giaches de Wert , Orlando di Lasso , Giovanni Palestrina , Giacches de Wert , Christopher Jackson , Le Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montreal , and Christopher Jackson
Manufacturer: Musica Viva
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Gombert, NicolasGombert, Nicolas | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
All Works by LassusAll Works by Lassus | Lassus, Orlando di(Lasso) | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Morales, Cristóbal de | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
MotetsMotets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
PartsongsPartsongs | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Richafort: Requiem in memoriam Josquin Desprez; Motets /Huelgas Ensemble * P van Nevel
  2. Lassus: Masses for Five Voices; Infelix ego
  3. Willaert: Missa Christus Resurgens, Magnificat Sexti Toni, etc / Summerly, Oxford Camerata
  4. An Inconvenient Truth

ASIN: B00000HYTG
Release Date: 1999-01-26

Tracks:

  1. e sur la mort de Josquin: Musae Jovis voix
  2. Motet: Inviolata, integra et casta es voix
  3. Motet: Tulerunt Dominum meum voix
  4. Motet: Nesciens mater voix
  5. Motet: Andreas Christi famulus voix
  6. Motet: Salve Regina voix hautes
  7. Motet: Beatus Laurentius voix
  8. Motet: Omnes de Saba venient voix en deux choeurs
  9. Litaniae de Beata Virgine Maria voix - Palestrina
  10. Motet: Vidi speciosam sicut columbam voix
  11. Motet: Ascendente Jesu in naviculam voix
  12. Motet: Peccavi super numerum voix

Amazon.com

If you heard this record in a blind test, you'd probably guess it was Philippe Herreweghe's European Vocal Ensemble or midcareer Tallis Scholars (before their immaculate singing took on a glassy-eyed chill). Surely a choir from some European hotbed of early music like... Montreal?! Yes, indeed. Christopher Jackson and his Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal have been quietly working away up north for years; only in the late 1990s have they been making commercial recordings in a big way. Each one of these discs is better than the last: the group's Palestrina/Victoria release of 1998 and this anthology make a marvelous introduction to the a cappella sacred music of the Renaissance. Jackson and his choir capture the limpid reverence of Josquin's Inviolata and the thick richness of Mouton's Nesciens mater, the melancholy of Gombert's Musae Jovis and the cheer of Victoria's Vidi speciosam, and the combination of all those qualities in Gombert's Tulerunt Dominum meum and Palestrina's Salve Regina for four high voices. What's more, they do it with the same clarity of line and beauty of tone that made the Tallis Scholars world famous. May they have similar success. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars I'm no scholar, but this is just lovely!.......2001-08-27

This was my first experience listening to music from such an early period, and I was spellbound. I'm not qualified tojudge the scholarly accuracy of the performance practices, nor can I compare these to other performances of the same pieces. I can say only that the music has an unearthly beauty of a kind which is not found in later music. The vocal style is different from what we find in baroque, classical and romantic choral pieces. It has a profound purity which comes, at least partly, from an absence of vibrato. There are eight composers represented, among whom Josquin and Palestrina are the best known. (One of the composers is Giacches de Wert, who, contrary to the Amazon listing, is not the conductor! The conductor is Christopher Jackson, and the ensemble is the Montreal Studio of Ancient Music, if I've translated the French correctly.) A beautiful recording. It was my first CD of "early" music, but it will not be my last!

4 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Unhackneyed Music.......2001-06-05

The opening Gombert Lament is a stunner, as is everything on this disk. It is recorded in a live, but not muddy, acoustic which really puts a beautiful "glow" on the proceedings. This would have gotten 5 stars from me except for the lack of texts and translations.

4 out of 5 stars The title says it all..........2000-12-19

Truly, the music on this CD must be what heaven sounds like! The "Tulerunt Dominum Meus" is outstanding. The only thing that could be added to this CD is a translation from Latin to English. Even so, not knowing the meaning of the words will not keep one from being transported in ecstasy while listening to this gorgeous music.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent Harmony! A powerful, yet relaxing experience!.......1999-05-23

This is a great choice for someone who loves tight well organized harmony.The arrangements on some of the eight-part harmony is outstanding!A truly great album.A must for any collection.
Litania - Margaret Leng Tan plays Somei Satoh
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Cosmic Zen
 Litania - Margaret Leng Tan plays Somei Satoh

Manufacturer: New Albion Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
PianoPiano | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
ViolinViolin | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Satoh: Toward the Night
  2. Margaret Leng Tan: Sonic Encounters: The New Piano - Works of John Cage / Alan Hovhaness / George Crumb / Somei Satoh / Ge Gan-Ru
  3. Sun/Moon
  4. From the Depth of Silence: Orchestral Music of Somei Satoh
  5. Somei Satoh: Mandara Trilogy

ASIN: B000000R28
Release Date: 1994-04-05

Tracks:

  1. The Heavenly Spheres Are Illuminated By Lights - Margaret Leng Tan/Lise Messier/Michael Pugliese
  2. Birds In Warped Time II - Margaret Leng Tan/Frank Almond
  3. Incarnation II
  4. A Gate Into The Stars
  5. Litania

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Cosmic Zen.......2003-10-25

"What are you playing?" she asked. "It's driving me insane" as we drove down Ocean Blvd in my 1969 convertible Mustang. "It's Margaret Lang Tan playing Somei Satoh" I replied as I hit the eject button on the CD player saving the music for myself later on...Do you want to hear something different? Profound? Cosmic? er...Zen? This is the CD for you but be careful who you play it with. Somei Satoh has several hard to find CD's all in a modern multi-cultural (East meets West) minimal Classical music with tape loops & sound effects. Highlights are: "The Heavenly Spheres Are Illuminated By Lights" sounds like the western theory of Universal Big Bang meets Zen Buddhism with prepared piano in tape loops birthing the human voice. "Birds In Warped Time II" again with prepared piano in tape loops setting free Jonathan Living Seagull expressed as a violin. If you like this CD, check out other Margaret Lang Tan or Somei Satoh CD's.

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