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Track(s) taken from CDA67959

O mors inevitabilis

composer
7vv; Epitaphium Josquini
author of text

Cinquecento
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
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Recording details: August 2010
Kloster Pernegg, Waldviertel, Austria
Produced by Colin Mason
Engineered by Markus Wallner
Release date: August 2012
Total duration: 2 minutes 40 seconds

Cover artwork: The Dead Christ (c1480-1490). Andrea Mantegna (c1431-1506)
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan / Alinari / Bridgeman Images
 

Other recordings available for download

The King's Singers

Reviews

‘Not only do the performances here range from genuine tenderness … to majestic splendour, but the balance is perfect and the melodic lines are absolutely clear, so that every detail of Richafort's remarkable contrapuntal writing can be heard … the other works on the disc are given similarly wonderful performances … Cinquecento's imploring rendition of the masterpiece that is Miserere mei, Deus is surely perfect in the way it balances a profound understanding, and projection, of its intricate counterpoint with its vast melodic sweep … if I could nominate this recording as 'Outstanding' twice over, I would do, for I have run out of superlatives. It is, quite simply, sublime’ (International Record Review)

‘Cinquecento's sound has a magic of its own’ (Gramophone)

‘Cinquecento give a more finely blended and balanced performance than I have yet heard from them, with spacious legato lines, breadth of vision and appreciation of the architecture and majestic solemnity of Richafort's 6-part polyphony, framed by gorgeous works by Josquin, his probable master. Vividly sung and recorded’ (Choir & Organ)

‘Musically inspired by Josquin, this is a majestic, expansive requiem … the shades of mourning are illuminated by moments of light and serenity—glimpses of a sublime hereafter. Cinquecento captures the work's meditative quality to profound effect, the all-male vocal ensemble creating an aptly plangent sonority and a tone of high seriousness … the group can also produce all the opulence and bloom of a much larger ensemble. Throughout, the singing is exquisitely controlled: arching polyphonic lines are beautifully shaped, textural contrasts subtly enhanced, never over-dramatised, and the voices—silken and effortless—seem to be suspended in amber’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Stephen Rice’s authoritative booklet notes are a valuable resource when it comes to placing the music in its historical context and delving further into the complexities of its creation, but the expressive warmth and sonority of Cinquecento’s voices, superbly recorded, are the source to which you will want to return for more and more. Superbly unified, the dynamic shading which brings forth leading voice lines and gently points to significant harmonic shifts are done so naturally that the music seems to enter your soul through some kind of osmosis rather than something so banal as mere listening’ (MusicWeb International)
Jheronimus Vinders is known only for a brief tenure as zangmeester at what is now the cathedral church of Ghent, in 1525–6. As well as his ‘Epithaphium Josquini’, Vinders based a Missa Stabat mater on a motet by Josquin; his other known compositions include three further Mass-settings, half a dozen motets, and three Dutch songs. O mors inevitabilis creates an impressive texture in its brief duration of sixty breves, due principally to its seven-voice scoring. Two of the central voices paraphrase the ‘Requiem aeternam’ chant, one in a conventional manner and the other more freely, including apparently the Psalm tone to which the words are sung at the end of the Requiem Mass as part of the Communion Proper. A copy of the poem, along with a small portrait of Josquin, was hung in the church of St Gudule, Brussels, but would seem to have been lost during the sixteenth century.

from notes by Stephen Rice © 2012

On sait juste de Jheronimus Vinders qu'il fut brièvement zangmeester de l’actuelle cathédrale de Gand, en 1525–6. Il fonda sa Missa Stabat mater, comme son «Epithaphium Josquini», sur un motet josquinien; parmi les autres compositions qu’on lui connaît figurent trois messes supplémentaires, une demi-douzaine de motets et trois chants néerlandais. O mors inevitabilis crée, en soixante brèves seulement, une structure impressionnante grâce, surtout, à ses sept voix. Deux des voix centrales paraphrasent le plain-chant «Requiem aeternam», l’une de manière conventionnelle, l’autre plus librement, en incluant, en apparence, le ton psalmodique sur lequel les mots sont chantés à la fin de la messe de requiem, dans le cadre du propre de la communion. Une copie du poème, assortie d’un petit portrait de Josquin, était appendue en l’église Sainte-Gudule, à Bruxelles, mais elle fut perdue, semble-t-il, au XVIe siècle.

extrait des notes rédigées par Stephen Rice © 2012
Français: Hypérion

Jheronimus Vinders ist nur für kurze Zeit als zangmeester an der heutigen Kathedrale zu Ghent (1525–26) dokumentiert. Ebenso wie seinem „Epithaphium Josquini“ liegt Vinders’ Missa Stabat mater eine Motette von Josquin zugrunde. Zu seinen anderen bekannten Werken gehören drei weitere Messvertonungen, ein halbes Dutzend Motetten und drei niederländische Lieder. O mors inevitabilis erzeugt während seiner kurzen Dauer von nur 60 Breven eine eindrucksvolle Textur, die sich hauptsächlich durch die siebenstimmige Anlage ergibt. Zwei der Mittelstimmen paraphrasieren den Cantus planus „Requiem aeternam“, eine in konventioneller und die andere in freierer Art und Weise, wobei offenbar der Psalmtonus mit einbezogen wird, zu dem dieselben Worte am Ende der Requiem-Messe, als Teil der Communio, gesungen werden. In der Brüsseler Kirche St. Gudule hing eine Abschrift des Texts sowie ein kleines Porträt Josquins, die jedoch im 16. Jahrhundert offenbar abhanden kamen.

aus dem Begleittext von Stephen Rice © 2012
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

Other albums featuring this work

Richafort: Requiem
Studio Master: SIGCD326Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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