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Track(s) taken from CDA67807

Videntes stellam

composer
12vv
author of text
Matthew 2: 10-11, 9; Responsory for Matins for the Feast of the Epiphany

King's College London Choir, The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, David Trendell (conductor), Ashley Marshfield (organ)
Recording details: May 2009
All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Matthew O'Donovan
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: April 2010
Total duration: 6 minutes 20 seconds

Cover artwork: The Burial of Count Orgaz, from a legend of 1323 (detail) (1586/8). Doménikos Theotokópoulos (El Greco) (1541-1614)
Santo Tomé, Spain / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘This is choral singing to a professional standard, and the choir makes light work of Rogier’s adventurous harmonies. As I mentioned, their articulation of the rhythms is impeccable, and their clear and unified sense of phrasing is expressed through subtle and wholly appropriate dynamic gradation. All in all, this sounds like a promising start to a collaboration between a choir worth hearing more of and a record label with an excellent track record of promoting such ensembles’ (MusicWeb International)» More
The responsories Verbum caro factum est and Videntes stellam magi, composed for Christmas Day and Epiphany respectively, are both scored for twelve voices. They follow a similar pattern, making much of antiphonal effects between the three choirs, and contrasted with thrilling tutti passages. In both pieces, a harp is specified as continuo instrument for the first choir, and some parts are untexted in the original, suggesting instrumental participation. The construction of the three magnificent organs in the Basilica at El Escorial was completed in 1590, and perhaps these grand triple-choir pieces may have featured all three instruments. Both works share a similar layout: Choir 1 begins with a rather gentle statement in slow notes, then Choirs 2 and 3 enter with more lively material. Thereafter, short phrases are exchanged in rhythmical, chordal blocks—a technique that was to continue to develop in 17th-century Spanish music.

from notes by Philip Cave © 2010

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