PALESTRINA Missa Hodie Christus natus est. Hodie Christus natus est. Christe Redemptor omnium Ex Patre. Magnificat 5 toni. Tui sunt caeli. Reges Tharsis. O magnum mysterium. Song of Songs: Excerpts • Harry Christophers, cond; The Sixteen • CORO COR 16105 (67:34 Text and Translation)


This is the second issue in the recently announced series of Palestrina works ( Fanfare 35:2). In what is clearly a pattern, this disc also offers a Mass with its related motet, additional motets related to the theme of the Mass, and three more sections of the Song of Songs. Just as the first disc added Marian motets to the Mass for the feast of the Assumption, this Mass is filled out with Christmas motets. The hymn Christe Redemptor omnium is an alternatim setting, as is the Magnificat. The Mass is one of four double-choir Masses first published together in 1601, the only such settings among the composer’s 105 Masses. This is at least the seventh recording of the Mass but the first in almost two decades. The most recent were directed by Jeremy Summerly with a large choir (18:1) and by Paul McCreesh with a vocal ensemble (not reviewed in the States); earlier examples were mostly choral renditions. Christophers’s tempos fall midway between those two versions. The most notable difference among the three versions comes in the Agnus Dei, which I presume was set once by the composer; McCreesh surrounds the single invocation with chant from Mass XVII for the first and last invocations, Summerly renders the music twice, supplying the altered text for the final invocation, as I would expect a Renaissance-era choir to do, and Christophers simply provides the single invocation as printed.


The promise of the first disc is fulfilled here with an exquisite rendition of the Mass and a fine collection of related motets. While many will appreciate the warmth of Summerly’s larger choir, the broad tempos, and the attractive price of a disc that couples it with a much-duplicated Lassus Mass for double choir, there is much to be said for the new disc in addition to its intelligent programming. Christophers explains in the notes that hymns composed as alternatim settings can be difficult to sing because the chant found in modern editions does not correspond to the melody used in the polyphonic verses. But the chant of this Christe Redemptor omnium can be deduced from the polyphony and confirmed from Victoria’s setting, which was published with the same chant printed out completely. He also notes how singers may have added unwritten accidentals to the chant in the same way the accidentals were written in the polyphony. He cites the superb volume of 68 offertories for the liturgical year that Palestrina published at the end of his life (Lassus published a similar set), for two of them are included here for Christmas and Epiphany. These two sets were the first to offer something to replace the chants that had always been sung at this place in the Mass. Richard Marlow (31:1) gave us one of the most extensive collections of these pieces. I look forward to the continuation of this series, impatient with the prospect of one disc per year. How long will this go on?


FANFARE: J. F. Weber

Palestrina: Missa Sine Nomine - Missa L'Homme Arme

If you like clarity, engagement, precision and top-notch audio, this could be the Papae Marcelli for you.

By and large, there seems to be a general consensus about the ideals to which modern performances of Palestrina should aspire. Most seem intent on balancing the clarity afforded by clear articulation and even balance between the voices with a warm, all-embracing aura, either from a generous acoustic or from homogeneity of choral tone. 

By those standards, this is a remarkably successful recording. Ensemble Officium is a relatively small choir, seventeen singers are credited, but has plenty of power in reserve for Palestrina’s more opulent textures. Some may find the readings a little on the dry side, dry for Palestrina that is, and certainly clarity is the overriding concern here. The balance between the voices is impeccable, as is the articulation of the texts. Pope Marcellus would surely have approved, as he would that the texts are also provided.

The liner-notes go into some detail about why these works are performed a fourth lower than notated. Whatever the historical justification, the musical benefits are clear. The sopranos are never strained, the alto lines are taken by tenors, adding to the evenness of the tone, and none of the lower voices is ever compromised by the tessitura. The recorded sound is exquisite: clear, warm and above all involving. There is no surround mix, but the stereo SACD layer demonstrates all the other virtues that this technology can field. In fact, those Trentine ideals of clarity and engagement are ideally met through the combination of a smallish choir and high-specification recorded sound.

The programme breaks up the Missa Papae Marcelli with interpolated plainchant and motets by Palestrina. The idea is to recreate the music of an Ascension Day service from Palestrina’s time. From a purely musical point of view, this has the effect of introducing a range of Palestrina’s lesser-known but equally fine works into the flow of his famous Mass. The ordering is probably not to everybody’s taste, but I surprised myself in not skipping the Gregorian chant, which is sung here - often in small unison ensembles - with an unadorned and unornamented simplicity. Stylistically, it is the ideal complement to Palestrina’s strivings for polyphonic clarity.

When it comes to Papae Marcelli recordings, the field is already crowded, but even so this disc deserves recommendation. If you like boy’s voices on the top lines, driving tempi or halo-like cathedral acoustics, give this one a miss. On the other hand, if you like clarity, engagement, precision and top-notch audio, this could be the Papae Marcelli for you. 

-- Gavin Dixon, MusicWeb International 

The Missa Papae Marcelli by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is a crossroads of historical and musical doubts and paradoxes. After all, legends such as these are always nourished first in the shadows of history, in the ambiguous folds of testimonies; enigma is the birthplace of creative fantasy, spurring the collective imagination in its constant aspiration to embody mythical forms. Palestrina himself was probably the first to consciously set the stage for the creation of the myth which would surround him and his work. Already with his earliest publication, the Liber primus missarum of 1554, the entire enterprise seemed fueled by a desire for majesty and success, from the large format of the volume to the meticulously prepared graphics, from the dedication to a great ecclesiastical personage (Pope Julius III) to - last but not least - the musical contents: Masses of contrapuntal and formal perfection, exemplifying a masterful use of all the important compositional techniques of the time. Marco Della Sciucca, from the liner notes Some of the best Italian male voices, specialists in the performance of Renaissance and Baroque music, sing in Odhecaton under the direction of Paolo Da Col. Since its beginning in 1998, Odhecaton has been the recipient of some of the most prestigious discographic awards: "De Passione" (Josquin Desprez) was awarded the Diapason d'Or of the Year 2003, while the more recent "O gente brunette" (Ramee) took the Diapason d'Or of February 2010 ?A landmark recording. Odhectaton is making their debut on Arcana with the Missa Papae Marcelli of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, a recording sure to become a point of reference for this sacred masterwork. ?How and where. For the first time in recording history, Odhecaton has recreated as much as possible a hypothetical performance by the pontifical chapel at the time of Pope Marcellus II. ? Performance forces. With an ensemble of about twenty singers, Odhecaton comes close to the formation of the pontifical chapel which, between 1510 and 1585, numbered between twenty and thirty-six singers. ? Only men allowed. Odhecaton excludes soprano and treble voices, extraneous to the pontifical chapel in the second half of the sixteenth century, and employs only adult male voices: basses, baritones, tenors and countertenors. ? Palestrina made in Italy. Until now the discography of the Missa Papae Marcelli has been dominated by British ensembles and choirs, inclined to emphasize the balanced purity of the vocal lines, the ethereal side of Palestrina. Odhecaton instead highlights the Mediterranean qualities of his vocal style. ? The liturgical context. The performance places the Missa Papae Marcelli in a liturgical context which emphasizes its original function, reconstructing a hypothetical liturgy (the Easter Mass) with music as it might have been celebrated at the Sistine Chapel.

Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli

The Sixteen continues it's acclaimed series of discs exploring the work of Italian Renaissance master, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. An enormous body of sacred works, including over 100 Masses, rightly earned Palestrina the title of 'the prince and father of music' and 'the saviour of church music'. His legacy has impacted sacred music worldwide for over 400 years and composers throughout the centuries have studied and learned from his gift of writing exquisite polyphony. Central to this sixth disc is Palestrina's unjustly neglected 5-voice L'Homme arm� Mass. Written before 1570, it is no mere technical showpiece, but contains music of the highest quality. It is accompanied on this disc by a group of penitential and devotional motets and Offertories on well known texts such as Parce mihi Domine, Si ambulavero in medio tribulationis, Tribulationes civitatem, de profundis, and Super flumina Babylonis, eliciting from Palestrina his best and most moving music. Three further Song of Songs motets in the Sixteen's ongoing complete survey complete the CD.

PALESTRINA: Missa de Beata Virgine

Mid-16th century: Catholic Church music is threatened by a pandemic. All too worldly, artificial things had crept into sacred chanting to such an extent that the famous Council of Trent even wanted to reduce singing in the mass to the monophonic Gregorian chant again. As the Fama tells us, Palestrina saved polyphonic church music from this crisis with his Missa Papae Marcelli. In a live recording, beauty farm sings this legendary work, which raises complex questions of interpretation and juxtaposes the mass with well- known hymns in the chorale. frabernardo dedicates the album to Bruno Turner, who once set standards in early music with the ensemble Pro Cantione Antiqua, for his 90th birthday.

"The trick to mastering counterpoint lies in mastering it completely...herein lies the glory of this magnificent, essential release. The balance of seriousness with humanity comes through as much as the balanced voices...Patterson clearly has genius in selecting just the right tempos and dynamics...serious, winning, and convincing. If we have ever had a finer Palestrina recording available, I've not heard it."
—Heuwell Tircuit, In Tune Magazine

"They [Gloriae Dei Cantores]have demonstrated a polished musicality, combined with a versatile command of a wide-ranging repertoire of literature and styles...the richness and sonority is almost hypnotically beautiful. Palestrina was, after all, one of the great composers of music for grouped human voices, and there is no reason why we should not enjoy such luscious, expansive (yet stylistically sensitive) realizations of his music. Good notes; full texts and English translations. Alike to the Palestrina collector or the lover of wonderful choral sound, this release is warmly recommended."
—John W. Barker, American Record Guide