Composer: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Performer: The Sixteen
Conductor: Harry Christophers
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Coro
Catalogue: COR16114
Release: 2013
Size: 279 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Missa O magnum mysterium
01. Kyrie
02. Gloria
03. Credo
04. Sanctus
05. Benedictus
06. Agnus Dei I & II
07. A solis ortu cardine
08. Iubilate Deo
09. Ad te Levavi Oculos Meos
10. Ave Regina caelorum a 8
Song of Songs
11. VII: Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi
12. VIII: Ecce, tu pulcher es, dilecte mi
13. XII: Introduxit me rex in cellam vinariam
14. Magnificat Quinti toni
15. Deus enim firmavit
16. Surge, illuminare
This album features a selection of Palestrina’s music for Christmas including his largely unknown masterpiece, the Missa O magnum mysterium. Also presented are several unusual hymn settings amongst them A solis ortu cardine—a setting of a chant hymn for Christmas morning.
Alongside the hymns are motets from the Song of Songs. The Song of Songs are among some of Palestrina’s most sublime and expressive works and, as with previous disc in the series, this album includes three of them. Dedicated to Pope Gregory XIII, Palestrina’s style of writing for these sensual texts demonstrates what variety and intensity of feeling can be conveyed with the simplest of means.
Completing this recording are three double-choir motets (a genre in which Palestrina was unsurpassed), Ave Regina, Iubilate Deo and Surge illuminare.
British choral conductor Harry Christophers and his handpicked group the Sixteen have been around long enough that they can feel free to explore certain repertories in more detail, releasing the results on their own label, Coro. The familiarity extends to the sound environment: the group’s engineers capture the vocal blend in startling detail in this recording, made at the Church of St. Alban the Martyr in London. Palestrina, with his complex but crystal-clear textures, is a composer well suited to the Sixteen’s style, which is akin to that of the British cathedral choirs but more intimate, with a bit more texture in the voices. Now you get not just famous works of Palestrina, but a cycle of works (now up to volume 4, and it’s not clear of what the cycle might consist — surely not all of Palestrina’s hundreds of works!) that go into greater depth. Several of the volumes thus far, including this one, have included a mass, the medium in which Palestrina displayed his most expansive architectural genius, together with a group of shorter works. It’s a bit curious that the Missa O Magnum Mysterium heard here isn’t accompanied by the motet on which it is based, although that motet is discussed in the booklet notes. But by listening to this release in conjunction with others in the set, you can get an idea of how Palestrina’s unique sound world interacted with the structural principles in the music of his day. Several of the shorter works, too, are unusually beautiful: sample the Song of Songs settings (tracks 11-13). This is a worthwhile Palestrina release for newcomers as well as devotees of the composer who two generations ago was synonymous with Renaissance music but is lately even a bit underperformed.