Sacred Choral Music From 17th-Century Portugal

1. Super Aspidem - Ps. 19 vl3
Composed by Joao Lourenco Rebelo
Performed by Sixteen with Libby Crabtree , Michael Lees , Neil MacKenzie , Rebecca Outram
Conducted by Harry Christophers

2. Ecce Nunc - Ps. 134
Composed by Joao Lourenco Rebelo
Performed by Sixteen with Simon Berridge , Sally Dunkley , Carys-Anne Lane
Conducted by Harry Christophers

3. In Te, Domine, Speravi - Ps. 31 vl -6
Composed by Joao Lourenco Rebelo
Performed by Sixteen Conducted by Harry Christophers

4. Qui Habitat - Ps. 91 vl -6
Composed by Joao Lourenco Rebelo
Performed by Sixteen with Libby Crabtree , Sally Dunkley , Carys-Anne Lane , Rebecca Outram
Conducted by Harry Christophers

5. Fratres Sobrii, compline
Composed by Joao Lourenco Rebelo
Performed by Sixteen with Libby Crabtree , Ruth Dean , Andrew Giles
Conducted by Harry Christophers

6. Educes Me -Ps. 31 v5
Composed by Joao Lourenco Rebelo
Performed by Sixteen Conducted by Harry Christophers

7. Popule Meus - Improperia
Composed by Diogo Dias Melgaz
Performed by Sixteen Conducted by Harry Christophers

8. Panis Angelicus, hymn
Composed by Joao Lourenco Rebelo
Performed by Sixteen Conducted by Harry Christophers

9. Lamentacao de Quinta Feira Santa
Composed by Diogo Dias Melgaz
Performed by Sixteen with Simon Berridge , Sally Dunkley , Robert Evans , Rebecca Outram
Conducted by Harry Christophers

10. Salve Regina, antiphon
Composed by Diogo Dias Melgaz
Performed by Sixteen Conducted by Harry Christophers

11. Magnificat a 13, canticle
Composed by Joao Lourenco Rebelo
Performed by Sixteen with Libby Crabtree , Andrew Giles , Neil MacKenzie , Rebecca Outram
Conducted by Harry Christophers

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.

Tracks:

Intemerata Dei Mater
Nunc Dimittis
Magnificat (Octavi Toni)
Surrexit Pastor Bonus
Laboravi In Gemitu Meo
Ego Flos Campi
Si Ignoras Te
Lauda Mater Ecclesia
Vadam Et Circuibo
Laudibus In Sanctis
Crux Fidelis

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant.......2005-10-28

Shimmering, luxurious, sparkling, ebullient, meditative. This CD started my love for the great Renaissance music for the Catholic Mass, surely one of the great achievements in human endeavor. There may be better introductory discs out there, but this was mine, and it changed my life. Read the reviews of other similar discs and you'll read the same thing. This is music that speaks to the soul, which was, and will always be, the point.

Average customer rating:

What a powerfully effective discovery!

Music from Renaissance Coimbra

Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

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

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000002ZUO
Release Date: 1994-08-09

Customer Reviews:

What a powerfully effective discovery!.......2004-09-28

A BBC reviewer of this disc wrote: "Hyperion has an extraordinary gift for detecting repertoire which leaves us wondering how we ever lived without it." That sums up any legitimate verdict in a single sentence, except that one should emphasize how good this production is even by Hyperion's usual standards. Sound quality - which in the companion volume HOLY WEEK AT THE CHAPEL OF THE DUKES OF BRAGANZA slightly disappoints, because of eccentric balances - is superb here. Voices (this collection, unlike the Braganza one, consists wholly of unaccompanied works) have a beautiful sheen, and are captured with an admirable stereo spread; following these hitherto unknown composers' counterpoint becomes particularly attractive when one hears it through headphones. All competent hi-fi store owners should stock this release as an example of how to show off their equipment with wonderful choral timbres. Mostly sublime performances and fascinating booklet annotations, along with a brilliantly chosen cover picture that now evokes Mel Gibson's best-known film, complete a powerfully effective discovery. Only one of these motets - SANCTORUM MERITIS by a certain Pedro de Cristo, who died in 1618 - has ever been recorded before. If A Capela Portuguesa's plainchant sections did not occasionally sound a little stolid in rhythm, MUSIC FROM RENAISSANCE COIMBRA would be perfection itself. As it stands it can still be recommended with all possible enthusiasm to anyone enamored of the Palestrina school.

Rebelo & Melgás: Sacred Choral Music from Seventeenth Century Portugal

Average customer rating:

Rebelo & Melgás: Sacred Choral Music from Seventeenth Century Portugal

Manufacturer: Collins Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000003VZ8
Release Date: 1996-10-29