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Track(s) taken from CDA67836

Ave Maria

composer
SATB SATB
author of text
Antiphon for the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Cardinall's Musick, Andrew Carwood (conductor)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
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Recording details: November 2009
Fitzalan Chapel, Arundel Castle, United Kingdom
Produced by Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
Engineered by Martin Haskell & Iestyn Rees
Release date: August 2010
Total duration: 4 minutes 24 seconds

Cover artwork: The Penitent Magdalen. Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641)
Private Collection / © Agnew's, London / Bridgeman Images
 

Other recordings available for download

The Cambridge Singers, John Rutter (conductor)

Reviews

‘This latest addition to Guerrero's discography is especially to be welcomed for his fine Mass on a motet by Thomas Crecquillon, in which one hears echoes of the style of Guerrero's near-direct contemporary, Palestrina. Like its model it is a joyful, extrovert piece, to which Andrew Carwood's singers respond with an equal measure of buoyancy and vigour’ (Gramophone)

‘This Mass, beautifully sung by The Cardinall's Musick, reflects Guerrero's soaring style’ (The Independent)

‘Since 1989, Andrew Carwood has nurtured the group to its current status as a leading exponent of Renaissance music, retaining the essential quality of individual vocal timbres that contribute to a refined, characterful mix and with a polish that is second to none … this entire disc is captivating in its fluency and expressive power’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘This is one of the finest Guerrero discs … Carwood has given us a program of the highest distinction … it is beyond excellent’ (Fanfare, USA)
During his lifetime and for at least 200 years after his death, Guerrero was one of the most widely published and performed vocal composers of the Spanish Renaissance, second only to Victoria in reputation. From 1551 till his death he worked at Seville Cathedral, but also travelled widely. Ave Maria, published in 1574, is among the most serene and beautiful of his 150 or so motets, similar in mood to the better-known Ave virgo sanctissima. Like the Victoria antiphons, it is for double choir and based on a Gregorian chant—the Ave Maria chant was, moreover, familiar to most Renaissance listeners. Its first few notes are heard at the outset of the motet marked out in slow notes by the Choir 2 tenor, echoed in canon by soprano. Although the chant provided a point of reference for listeners (as did the Lutheran chorales found throughout Bach’s church and organ music), the texture woven around it is entirely Guerrero’s own, with a characteristic sense of gracefulness spun out over a leisurely time span.

from notes by Collegium Records © 2006

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