Palestrina: Music for Holy Saturday

On this CD:

1. Lamentationum Hieremiae Prophetae for 5 & 6 voices Heth. Misericordiae Domini
Composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Conducted by Simon Ravens

2. Sicut ovis, responsory
Composed by Gregorian Chant

Conducted by Simon Ravens

3. Lamentationum Hieremiae Prophetae for 5 & 6 voices Quomodo obscuratum est aurum, mutatus est color optimus
Composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Conducted by Simon Ravens

4. Jerusalem surge, responsory
Composed by Gregorian Chant

Conducted by Simon Ravens

5. Lamentationum Hieremiae Prophetae for 5 & 6 voices Recordare Domine quid acciderit nobis: intuere, et respice opprobrium nostrum
Composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Conducted by Simon Ravens

6. Plange quasi virgo, responsory
Composed by Gregorian Chant

Conducted by Simon Ravens

7. Stabat mater, motet for 8 voices
Composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Conducted by Simon Ravens

8. Mulieres
Composed by Gregorian Chant

Conducted by Simon Ravens

9. Benedictus Dominus, motet for 5 voices
Composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Conducted by Simon Ravens

10. Mulieres
Composed by Gregorian Chant

Conducted by Simon Ravens

11. Sicut cervus, motet for 4 voices (from Motets Book II for 4 voices)
Composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Conducted by Simon Ravens

Tracks:

Assumpta Est Maria In Caelum
Assumpta Est Maria In Caelum
Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus & Benedictus
Agnus Dei I & II
Sicut Lilium Inter Spinas I
Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus & Benedictus
Agnus Dei I

Tracks:

Lamentations For Holy Saturday
Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus & Benedictus
Agnus Dei I & II
Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus & Benedictus
Agnus Dei I & II

Customer Reviews:

*** Transportively Enchanting & Sublime.......2006-10-29

The music here is pure glory and highly recommended. The voices ascend harmonically & beam with the hearts of a thousand churches, so you can almost smell the frankincense and feel the penetration of the great rose windows from this meditative collection. Sample online and get a taste of the harmonies yourself.

Tallis Scholars sing Palestrina.......2006-08-14

Tallis Scholars sing Palestrina~ Gregorian Chant is a sublime recording. Palestrina was and is an amazing composer of choral music and without a doubt a genius. The Tallis Scholars are able to sing these very difficult and ardeous compositions with a splendid ability that is rarely if ever heard. Being a very devout person Palestrinas music speaks directly to my heart, mind and my soul. Palestrinas lyrics (if one dare call them this) are written with such devout nature that I honestly feel my heart leap with joy and exaltation. This particular recording has spared no expenses and the book-let is nothing short of a work of art and one could describe it as a stroke of pure brilliance. The painting on the outside is some of the best art ever produced and the cds themselves have also be adorned with this splendid and breath taking art. The liner notes are very well written and I dare say this is one of the best classical albums that I have heard in quite some time. Highly recommended indeed.

Lovely Recordings of Great Mass Settings.......2006-02-16

Good performances of Palestrina's polyphonically complex choral masterpieces are difficult. One false note and the entire piece fails. In this beautiful set of recordings, the Tallis Scholars focus on a few of Palestrina's 107 Mass settings, and they never miss: they sing these masterworks with passion, clarity, and accuracy. Any quibbles about the authenticity of the use of sopranos are precisely that. A good introduction to one of the West's greatest composers and essential for any lover of great sacred music or Renaissance classics.

The great master of Renaissance counterpoint sung by 20th century masters of gorgeous contrapuntal singing.......2005-10-28

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is considered by many to be the greatest composer of liturgical music of all time. Born in obscurity, his birth year is debated, but it was sometime between 1514 and 1526 and died world famous in Rome in 1594. Palestrina was not a priest. He married and had two sons. In the 1570s he lost a brother, his wife, and two sons in three separate epidemics of plague. He then considered becoming a priest, but changed his mind and married a wealthy widow, his church position did not pay very well (do they ever?), and continued with his composition.

The style of composition he developed took the countrapuntal methods of the Renaissance with a personal style that emphasized smooth voice leading and the beauty of sound from the voices. In many ways, the Baroque style, founded in Italy around the time of Palestrina's death, was a reaction against the powerful cultural presence Palestrina's music had become. I understand the desire of the Baroque composers to express the words more directly, but to say that Palestrina did not express the meaning of the words in his music is a gross oversimplification.

When I hear these settings of the ordinary of the Mass I am still shocked at their beauty and transcendence. Every now and again someone tells me that they find Palestrina's music boring and I am dumbfounded. What could they possibly be hearing? My conclusion is that they are trying to listen for functional harmony supporting a single melody because that is the kind of music they know. Yet, that listening technique will not only cheat you of Palestrina and all of Renaissance music, but of most of Bach, Handel, and their contemporaries as well. While Bach does appear to have functional harmony, and at times he does, his real glory is his matchless counterpoint. For that matter, all the great "classical" composers through Brahms were also great writers of counterpoint, but it is at a level of remove from the surface after Bach.

The Tallis Scholars deserve their fame. Their sound is amazingly beautiful, their intonation is perfection, and their clarity a delight. Any issues of performance practice "inaccuracies" are just silly. The whole point of musical performance is to come up with something that convinces and delights. Scholarship is supposed to support that end. In the end, an overly fussy approach to performance cheats one of everything because if a performance doesn't please its hearers and performers it will disappear back to the shelves with all the other unperformed music. I like hearing this music performed with boy trebles, but I also like hearing it performed by skilled women who take a careful approach to they way this music is sung. In the end, it is how it sounds, not who makes the sounds.

If you do not know the music of Palestrina, these disks are a marvelous introduction. He was important enough to become a shorthand for an entire era of music and became a model for counterpoint for centuries of composers.

Anachronistic but amazing..........2005-07-26

This 2 CD release is a combination of previous Tallis Scholars discs; alongside Palestrina's most famous work - the Missa Papae Marcelli - is another free Mass (Brevis), 2 parody Masses and their respective motets (Assumpta est Maria; Sicut lilium), and also his setting of the Lamentations for Holy Saturday, Lesson 3 (6vv).

Regarding historical accuracy, there are clearly issues with this recording, most obviously in the use of sopranos (as opposed to the original treble or castrato voices). In addition, recent Palestrina scholarship has convincingly shown that one-per-part performance was likely, and indeed almost certain in polyphony for Holy Week like the Lamentations (the Tallis Scholars' 2-per-part allocation, though, is closer than large treble choirs...). The solo singers also appear to have added lavish ornaments to relatively plain lines, and an organ or sackbut sometimes accompanied the singers (see Graham Dixon, 'The Performance of Palestrina', Early Music [November 1994], 667-75).

Of course, none of this would concern Peter Phillips. He has always had a sour, suspicious attitude to 'authenticity', being primarily concerned with creating 'beautiful sounds' (see his interview in Bernard Sherman, Inside Early Music [Oxford, 1997] and his article 'Beyond Authenticity' in Knighton & Fallows (eds.), Companion to Medieval & Renaissance Music [Oxford, 1997])

But is it really surprising that multiple-voiced, Notentreu interpretations of Palestrina dominate when recordings of this calibre are produced? The accuracy of intonation, blending and indeed 'beautiful sound' achieved by this ensemble are matched by only a handful of others; certainly no treble choir comes even close. It is significant that the first disc was awarded the 'Gramophone' Early Music Award for 1991 (when originally released) by musicologists like David Fallows and John Milsom who are normally anxious to point out historical inaccuracies. What could better demonstrate how wonderful these performances really are?

'Authentic' Palestrina...? Try:
1. Andrew Parrott's "Musica della Cappella Sistina" recording of the Stabat Mater, O beata et benedicta & Dum complerentur (1-per-part with added ornaments) on Virgin Veritas.
2. Sergio Vartolo's "Missa Sine Nomine / Missa L'homme Arme" on Naxos (1-per-part with organ accompaniment).

Average customer rating:

Or, "Best Sacred Vocal Music of the 16th Century"
A blast from the past!
Great Prayer Music
Some great Renaissance choral music
Excellent but overpraised

The Best of the Renaissance

Manufacturer: Philips
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

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

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

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

Oratorios | 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
Josquin Desprez: Motets & Chansons
Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli, Missa Aeterna
Sinners & Saints: The Ultimate Medieval and Renaissance Music Collection
Music for a Medieval Banquet

ASIN: B00000J9GR
Release Date: 1999-06-15

Tracks:

Miserere
Spem In Alium
Mass For Five Voices: Kyrie
Mass For Five Voices: Gloria
Mass For Five Voices: Credo
Mass For Five Voices: Sanctus - Benedictus
Mass For Five Voicesd: Agnus Dei
Missa 'Pange lingua': Kyrie
Missa 'Pange lingua': Gloria
Missa 'Pange lingua': Credo
Missa 'Pange lingua': Sanctus Benedictus
Missa 'Pange lingua': Agnus Dei I - II - III
Versa est in luctum

Tracks:

Tenebrac Responsories For Holy Saturday: Recessit pastor noster
Tenebrac Responsories For Holy Saturday: O vos omnes
Tenebrac Responsories For Holy Saturday: Ecce quomodo moritur justus
Missa Papae Marcelli: Kyrie
Missa Papae Marcelli: Gloria
Missa Papae Marcelli: Credo
Missa Papae Marcelli: Sanctus - Benedictus
Missa Papae Marcelli: Agnus Dei I - II - III
Osculetur me
Salve Regina
Ave Maria
Dum transisset Sabbatum
Magnificat

Amazon.com

As hateful and usually untrue as most "Best of" collections are, this one is the real thing. You actually do get two hours and 20 minutes of Renaissance music performed so exquisitely, so correctly, and so passionately that it's as if an entire era in music makes itself understood through these CDs. The Tallis Scholars are as good as it gets in this repertoire. In addition to getting Allegri's gorgeous Miserere, you'll find Thomas Tallis's 40-part (40!) Spem in alium, some wonderfully weird and dissonant Responsories by Gesualdo, Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli (the "how-to" piece of the Renaissance popes, who demanded that the words be understood), and various other works. This stuff is like a finely woven tapestry and should be listened to bits at a time--it's amazingly rich and worth it. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Or, "Best Sacred Vocal Music of the 16th Century".......2006-06-15

My only major complaint with the Tallis Scholars' impressive compilation "The Best of the Renaissance" is its name. The 2-CD set only includes sacred vocal polyphony from the High Renaissance (16th century). That means you get no chansons, no madrigals, no instrumental music of any sort. Perhaps even worse, composers before Josquin are ignored: there's no Dufay, no Binchois, no Ockeghem - nobody who worked primarily in the 15th century. These omissions suggest that the Tallis Scholars probably consider the pre-Josquin period as late Medieval, rather than early Renaissance.

Once you accept "The Best of the Renaissance" for what it is - "Best Sacred Vocal Music of the 16th Century" - you can better enjoy its remarkable assemblage of High Renaissance polyphony. The first disc in particular is quite astonishing. The Scholars lead off with their signature performance of Allegri's "Miserere" - actually a Baroque-era composition in Renaissance "learned style." The Scholars brilliantly convey the "call-and-response" effect of dual choirs through exquisitely crafted acoustics. Turn this one up, turn off the lights, close your eyes, and you're in the Sistine Chapel!

The Scholars follow "Miserere" with an equally impressive performance of a work by their namesake Thomas Tallis - the 40-voice motet "Spem in alium." If "Miserere" hasn't overwhelmed your senses, this one will.

Two virtuoso Mass cycles follow: William Byrd's "Mass for Five Voices" and Josquin's "Missa Pange lingua." The former conveys a sublime, otherworldly beauty, while the latter is a superior example of the style of pervasive imitation that Josquin and his contemporaries pioneered.

The selections on Disc One are so impressive that Disc Two disappoints by comparison. The second set is dominated by two composers I never quite warmed to: Carlo Gesualdo and Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina. Gesualdo was better known for his chromatic, genre-busting madrigals. His "Tenebrae Responses for Holy Thursday" are by contrast quite pleasing, but it's odd to hear sacred music written by a man who killed his wife and her lover. Palestrina's music achieves a sort of static beauty, but lacks forward motion. His "Missa Papae Marcelli" allegedly "saved" sacred polyphony, but arguably watered down the genre in its attempt to appease papal demands for simpler music.

The highlight of Disc 2 is Josquin's lovely "Ave Maria," a motet that provides yet another example of the Franco-Flemish composer's mastery of canonic forms.

"The Best of the Renaissance" expertly compiles the Tallis Scholars' best performances. Those looking for a comprehensive overview of the music of the Renaissance should be aware of its limitations, however.

A blast from the past!.......2006-02-24

This is a superb collection of Renaissance music. I especially loved Meserere on volume 1 of this two disk album.

Great Prayer Music.......2004-02-07

I perchased this cd and am truly truly glad I did. The sound makes me want to get somewhere and just cry out to God in joy, praise and reverence. The music is so peaceful pious (in a good way). Absolutely beautifuly executed. All the singers are with one accord-- and a great chord at that! Ye must needs purchase this cd!

Some great Renaissance choral music.......2004-02-01

When I recently played the first disk of this collection in the small bookstore/café where I work, a customer told me she had been trying to read but couldn't because she was so captivated by this CD's sublime music.

Although I am a sort of purist who hates when people say they listen to classical music just to relax, I find this CD set is perfect for inspiring reflection and relaxation. So, if you're looking for good music to relax to, this would be an excellent purchase.

The same goes if you're looking for some great Renaissance music. However, the term "Best of the Renaissance" may be a bit of a misnomer; the CD does not include a vast array of music from the said era. This collection is solely /a cappella/ music. Perhaps a more fitting title would be "The Best of Renaissance Choral Music." If you're looking for a broad sampling of music from this time period in one CD collection, this may not be for you. Nevertheless, if you want well performed choral music by some great composers, I recommend this CD to both Renaissance neophytes and aficionados without reservation.

Excellent but overpraised.......2003-12-30

The Best of the Renaissance is certainly worth buying if only for the amazing "Spem in Alium" by Thomas Tallis.Nevertheless, I do not share the boundless enthusiasm of other reviewers for this album.

To begin with, three Masses are featured on this album,two on the first cd. That is too much to my liking. And while the Mass Pange Lingua by Desprez is undoubtedly a wonderful piece, the other masses are not the best: the Mass for five voices by Byrd, while very beautiful, lacks the depth, emotion and intimacy of his Mass for three voices. The Missa Papae Marcelli by Palestrina is brilliant but nothing more than an academic exercise in virtuosity.

And I definitely do not appreciate Gesualdo's Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Saturday. This is simply very mediocre music that nobody would care for if it did not sound modern in its cerebral ugliness and thereby flatter our infatuation with ourselves.

Tracks:

Lamentations I
Lamentations I
Lamentations II
Lamentations
Lamentations (5vv)
Lamentations For Holy Saturday (Lesson 3, 6vv)

Customer Reviews:

One of my favorite Tallis Scholars recordings.......2005-08-06

Although this CD is partly a compilation that collects onto one CD a number of previously recorded Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah by Tallis, White, and Brumel, the Tallis Scholars have also added two further Lamentations by Ferrobosco the Elder and Palestrina. The idea was a brilliant one - the ultimate flattery being several similar compilations of Lamentae by other groups that came out afterwards.

Ferrobosco the Elder was a favorite in the court of Queen Elizabeth I - a fact all the more remarkable given the presence of superlative English Catholic composers such as Byrd and Tallis at the time. That a foreign composer - a Catholic at that - should have been imported into England may seem strange. It can all seem a case of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence - that is until you hear some of his finest compositions. Then you can see why Alfonso Ferrobosco "Il Padre" was such a favorite of Elizabeth - not only as a composer who helped to introduce the English to the Italian madrigal, but as a composer of equally remarkable sacred music.

Ferrobosco lived at a time of heightened religious tensions so that in England he was suspected of being a Catholic spy, whereas on the Continent he risked being seen as a traitor serving a Protestant queen and having his family punished. His impact on the English music scene was enormous and his music is as good as anything being written in the British Isles at the time.

The Tallis Lamentations needs fewer words of introduction. I will only say they are astonishingly beautiful works - profoundly moving and deeply affecting, they have an emotional impact of a kind equalled by few works of Renaissance polyphony. They are easily the highlights of this recording.

Antoine Brumel is mentioned by Monteverdi as being one of the composers of the Prima Prattica - the older school of the First Practice that brought polyphony to the peak of perfection and complexity in the 1500s to the earlier decades of the 1600's - in other words before the Counter Reformation effected enormous changes in musical practice. Interestingly, Peter Phillips himself included the Brumel Lamentations in his list of 10 desert island recordings for Goldberg early music magazine.

White is probably the least internationally accepted composer here. Even then his Lamentations are certainly worth hearing for the drama he brings to them.

Lastly, Palestrina is the composer, who over the centuries has had the most consistently high reputation on account of his role in perfecting a Counter Reformation style that emphasises clarity of the word in the text over displays of great contrapuntal complexity. However, in our age we increasingly tend to see this as a compromised dilution of the polyphonic achievements of the Prima Prattica composers before him. Still, despite these caveats, his compositions show such a sense of refined sense of taste his music seems to defy such criticism.

All in all, this is a wonderfully successful recording that deserves to be widely recommended. Even continental reviewers - usually more critical of the Tallis Scholar's occasional tendency towards superficial polish - such as Maricarmen Gomez writing in Goldberg early music magazine described this recording as "originality combined with perfection" and awarded the prestigious Goldberg five star rating.

Darkness and light.......2005-05-19

--Compositions--
This collection of pieces consists of six settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, a book of the Bible that is used in the Christian liturgy most heavily during Holy Week, during the service that has come to be known as Tenebrae. As Peter Phillips states in his notes, 'the darkness, the emotive events of Holy Week itself, the sombre texts and intense music, combined to make Tenebrae one of the most powerful experiences in the Church's year.'

Most of the composers followed the sequence of verses in the Hebrew text, denoted by letters from the Hebrew alphabet. There are distinctions between these, separated like verses; each of the pieces ends with the call 'Ierusalem, Ierusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum' - Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return to the Lord thy God.

Phillips likens the effect of these compositions to illuminated manuscripts, where the stark content of the words often contrasts with the beauty and colour of the artwork surrounding them.

--Composers--
There are five composers featured here: Alfonso Ferrabosco (the elder), Thomas Tallis, Antoine Brumel, Robert White, and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Only Palestrina differs from the others in the textual construction of these lamentations. These composers were contemporaries, roughly speaking - Brumel was the first, composing in the late 1400s to early 1500s; Tallis was born in 1505, and he with Ferrabosco, White and Palestrina were composing through much of the 1500s. Each of the composers is considered a master of liturgical compositions, and the trained ear will hear much similarity as well as much individuality in the pieces contained here. Palestrina is probably the most accomplished of the lot, being, according to one commentary, 'the summation of Renaissance polyphony.' Polyphony is distinct from Gregorian and other sorts of chant (which is monophonic) or much of choral/vocal music today, which is homophonic (a major melody line with harmony). Ferrabosco was better known for his madrigals, but as the selection here indicates, he has powerful sacred music as well (Ferrabosco may have been a spy for Elizabeth I in Italy). Brumel was considered one of the greatest composers of his generation during his lifetime. White lived a brief life, cut short by plague, but produced astonishing music for the Tudor church. Tallis, of course, is the outstanding English composer from whom this music group takes its name.

--Liner Notes--
Being internationally acclaimed, the Tallis Scholars' CDs typically present their commentary and texts in English, French, German and Italian (together with any Latin texts); unfortunately, that is not true of this disc, which only features the English and Latin. It does list the singers for each piece, separated out by the appropriate role (SATB, etc.). However, the liner notes here are a bit of a disappointment, without much information about the composers or the artists. The cover art for this disc is not the typical contemporary artwork, but rather a more modern abstraction of a person in sorrow or lament.

--The Tallis Scholars--
The Tallis Scholars, a favourite group of mine since the first time I heard them decades ago, are a group dedicated to the performance and preservation of the best of this type of music. A choral group of exceptional ability, I have been privileged to see them many times in public, and at almost every performance, their singing seems almost like a spiritual epiphany for me, one that defies explanation in words. Directed by Peter Phillips, the group consists of a small number of male and female singers who have trained themselves well to their task.

Their recordings are of a consistent quality that deserve more than five stars; this particular disc of pieces of Lamentation deserves a place on the shelf of anyone who loves choral music, liturgical music or Gregorian chant, classical music generally, or religious music. It is truly remarkable.

The Offertory: Gregorian Chant and Palestrina

Average customer rating:

The Offertory: Gregorian Chant and Palestrina

Manufacturer: Hungaroton
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00009L1UN
Release Date: 2003-05-27

Average customer rating:

The whole service!

Palestrina: Music for Holy Saturday

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Music for Maundy Thursday
Palestrina: Music for Good Friday
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ASIN: B00005YUGX
Release Date: 2002-03-26

Tracks:

Music For Holy Saturday: Lamentation I (Book III)
Music For Holy Saturday: Chant: Responsory I
Music For Holy Saturday: Lamentation II (Book III)
Music For Holy Saturday: Chant: Responsory II
Music For Holy Saturday: Lamentation III (Book III)
Music For Holy Saturday: Chant: Responsory III
Music For Holy Saturday: Stabat Mater
Music For Holy Saturday: Chant: Antiphon
Music For Holy Saturday: Benedictus For Holy Week
Music For Holy Saturday: Chant: Antiphony
Music For Holy Saturday: Sicut Cervus

Customer Reviews:

The whole service!.......2002-09-26

This is a beautifully-sung and -recorded disc representing a reconstruction of the Holy Saturday service in which Palestrina's music is interspersed among the Gregorian chants used for that day in the calendar. The whole makes for an interesting contrast between the monody of the chant and the polyphony Palestrina wrote--which helps to refresh the ears as to how radical a departure polyphonic writing must have sounded like--and the performances are excellent throughout. Strongly recommended.

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