Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Coro

Palestrina, Vol. 2 / The Sixteen

$20.99 Only 2 left

Details

Composer
PALESTRINA, GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI
Artist
V2: Palestrina
Format
CD
Label
Coro
Released
Oct 01, 2012
Catalog #
COR16105
UPC
828021610523

About



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

Tracklist 15 tracks

  1. 1 Hodie Christus natus est 02:32
    Track
    1
    Title
    Hodie Christus natus est
    Duration
    02:32
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  2. 2 Christe redemptor omnium 08:27
    Track
    2
    Title
    Christe redemptor omnium
    Duration
    08:27
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  3. 3 Magnificat Quinti toni a 5 11:38
    Track
    3
    Title
    Magnificat Quinti toni a 5
    Duration
    11:38
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  4. 4 Tui sunt coeli 02:53
    Track
    4
    Title
    Tui sunt coeli
    Duration
    02:53
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  5. 5 Reges Tharsis 02:36
    Track
    5
    Title
    Reges Tharsis
    Duration
    02:36
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  6. 6 Kyrie 03:19
    Track
    6
    Title
    Kyrie
    Duration
    03:19
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  7. 7 Gloria 04:53
    Track
    7
    Title
    Gloria
    Duration
    04:53
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  8. 8 Credo 06:49
    Track
    8
    Title
    Credo
    Duration
    06:49
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  9. 9 Sanctus 03:46
    Track
    9
    Title
    Sanctus
    Duration
    03:46
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  10. 10 Benedictus 02:14
    Track
    10
    Title
    Benedictus
    Duration
    02:14
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  11. 11 Agnus Dei 02:31
    Track
    11
    Title
    Agnus Dei
    Duration
    02:31
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  12. 12 Osculetur me osculo oris sui 03:23
    Track
    12
    Title
    Osculetur me osculo oris sui
    Duration
    03:23
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  13. 13 Trahe me post te 03:24
    Track
    13
    Title
    Trahe me post te
    Duration
    03:24
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  14. 14 Nigra sum sed formosa 03:40
    Track
    14
    Title
    Nigra sum sed formosa
    Duration
    03:40
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers
  15. 15 O magnum mysterium 05:20
    Track
    15
    Title
    O magnum mysterium
    Duration
    05:20
    Composer
    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
    Ensemble
    The Sixteen Choir
    Conductor
    Harry Christophers