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Track(s) taken from CDA67854

Veni Sancte Spiritus

composer
5vv; published in Nuremberg in 1600
author of text
Invocation to the Holy Ghost

Cinquecento
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: April 2010
Kloster Pernegg, Waldviertel, Austria
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by Markus Wallner
Release date: May 2011
Total duration: 2 minutes 17 seconds

Cover artwork: Vertumnus. Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593)
 

Reviews

‘Cinquecento's famed flexibility, harmonic blend and impeccable balance are caught perfectly in the stillness of the monastery at Pernegg in Austria. This is a disc to savour’ (Gramophone)

‘The music, a wonderful discovery, is polyphony of the highest quality, and Cinquecento marries smooth ensemble to marvellous interpretational vision. The recorded sound is excellent, doing full justice to their almost instrumental sonorities’ (Choir & Organ)

‘The voices of Cinquecento produce balanced, tuneful, clear and stylish performances … the quiet tensions of the 'Et incarnatus est' section are beautifully rendered, and the Benedictus is displayed and sustained with perfect poise … the recording deserves credit, too, for lending substance and space to the mere six voices that produce these compelling harmonies’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘[Cinquecento] gives resounding interpretations of the pieces … the ensemble's sonorous tone is based principally on a perfect balance between the voices, taut and intelligent pacing and a supremely confident shaping of musical line. The effect of their performances is enhanced as much by the lucid and warmly resonant recorded sound as the euphonious clarity of Schoendorff's writing’ (International Record Review)
The five-voice motet Veni Sancte Spiritus, published along with the Te decet hymnus, takes over from plainchant the opening melody in descending thirds of the invocation to the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The syllabic style sometimes accentuates the prosody (‘et tui amoris’), while runs are used to convey the lightness of the Holy Spirit and the jubilation of the Alleluia. Not only does the head-motif follow a descending curve, but the five voices enter successively from cantus to bassus: this expressive device allows us to ‘hear’ the Holy Spirit descending on the faithful. The spiritual union granted to them despite their diversity of language is twice symbolized by homophony in three voices on the words ‘gentes in unitate fidei congregasti’.

from notes by Bénédicte Even-Lassmann © 2011
English: Charles Johnston

Le motet Veni Sancte Spiritus à cinq voix, publié simultanément au Te decet hymnus, reprend au plain-chant le thème initial fait des tierces descendantes de l’invocation au Saint-Esprit du temps de la Pentecôte. Le syllabisme accentue parfois la prosodie («et tui amoris») tandis que des vocalises expriment la légèreté de l’Esprit («spiritus») ou la jubilation de l’alléluia. Non seulement le motif de tête est descendant mais les entrées des cinq voix se font successivement du cantus au bassus: c’est un moyen expressif qui permet d’«entendre» la descente du Saint-Esprit sur les fidèles. L’union spirituelle accordée malgré la diversité des langues est exprimée à deux reprises par l’homophonie de trois voix sur les paroles «gentes in unitate fidei congregasti».

extrait des notes rédigées par Bénédicte Even-Lassmann © 2011

Die fünfstimmige Motette Veni Sancte Spiritus wurde zusammen mit Te decet hymnus herausgegeben und greift die Anfangsmelodie des Cantus planus auf, die aus absteigenden Terzen besteht, mit denen der Heilige Geist zu Pfingsten angerufen wird. Der syllabische Stil akzentuiert zum Teil die Prosodie („et tui amoris“), während die Läufe dazu dienen, die Leichtigkeit des Geistes („Spiritus“) und das Jubeln des Alleluia darzustellen. Das Kopfmotiv erscheint nicht nur in einer absteigenden Kurve, sondern die fünf Stimmen setzen auch nacheinander, vom Cantus bis zum Bassus, ein. Dank diesem expressiven Stilmittel können wir den Heiligen Geist zu den Gläubigen hinabsteigen „hören“. Der spirituelle Zusammenhalt, der trotz der verschiedenen Sprachen vorherrscht, wird zweimal mit einem homophonen Satz bei den Worten „gentes in unitate fidei congregasti“ ausgedrückt.

aus dem Begleittext von Bénédicte Even-Lassmann © 2011
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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