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Track(s) taken from CDA67694

Salve regina

composer
4vv alternatim; chant verses from Luys de Villafranca (1565)
author of text
Marian Antiphon from Trinity until Advent

The Brabant Ensemble, Stephen Rice (conductor)
Recording details: September 2007
Merton College Chapel, Oxford, United Kingdom
Produced by Jeremy Summerly
Engineered by Justin Lowe
Release date: September 2008
Total duration: 8 minutes 18 seconds

Cover artwork: Virgin Annunciate (1450/5). Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro) (c1387-1455)
Detroit Institute of Arts, USA, Bequest of Eleanor Clay Ford / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘This is The Brabant Ensemble at their most vigorous and confident … in a fast-growing discography, this is a valuable addition’ (Gramophone)

‘Rice and his ensemble reveal a composer of warmth and passion who could also write resplendently joyful music when required … the whole recital is marked by an extraordinary unanimity of ensemble, security of intonation and intelligence that surpass all rivals in the repertory. In short, this is a valuable and exquisitely sung addition to the Morales discography’ (International Record Review)

‘Music of astonishing beauty and rapt polyphonic intensity, which the voices of the Brabant Ensemble unfold with perfect poise’ (The Guardian)

‘The Magnficat setting glows with power, and the three Lamentations have a grave beauty impossible to resist with the radiant tone and golden blend of Stephen Rice's Brabant Ensemble. The wise selection focuses on material underexposed elsewhere’ (The Times)

‘The young Oxford choir turns its immaculate ensemble, lucid diction and faultless tuning to the Spanish composer Morales. His Lamentations flow with exquisite sadness … the lines blend like threads in a tapestry … the selection of motets is rich with dynamic contrast, expressivity and downright beautiful singing’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘This first-rate recording makes an important contribution not only for its exceptional performances, but in its thoughtful programming … essential’ (Classics Today)
The four-part setting of Salve regina is associated with Morales’s Spanish rather than Roman years, due to its characteristically Spanish structure of alternation between chant and polyphonic phrases, as well as the chant melody employed. Since such alternatim settings are not provided with the plainchant verses in contemporary sources, it is necessary to supply them: the version used here (kindly provided by Bruno Turner) is that published by the theorist Luys de Villafranca in 1565, from Morales’s home city of Seville.

from notes by Stephen Rice © 2008

Le Salve regina à quatre parties est plus associé aux années espagnoles qu’à la période romaine de Morales, et ce à cause de sa structure typiquement espagnole (alternance de phrases grégoriennes et polyphoniques), mais aussi de la mélodie en plain-chant employée. Ces versions alternatim étant reproduites sans le plain-chant dans les sources contemporaines, il a fallu leur trouver une mélodie grégorienne pour cet enregistrement; Bruno Turner nous en a gentiment fourni une espagnole qui convient bien.

extrait des notes rédigées par Stephen Rice © 2008
Français: Hyperion Records Ltd

Der vierstimmige Satz des Salve regina ist wegen der charakteristisch spanischen Struktur des Wechsels zwischen Choral und und polyphonen Phrasen sowie der Choralmelodie, die er verwendet, mit Morales’ spanischen statt seinen römischen Jahren assoziiert. Da solche Alternatim-Vertonungen in zeitgenössischen Quellen ohne den Choral überliefert sind, müssen wir ihn zufügen; Bruno Turner versah uns freundlicherweise mit einer passenden spanischen Choralmelodie für diese Aufnahme.

aus dem Begleittext von Stephen Rice © 2008
Deutsch: Renate Wendel

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