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Track(s) taken from CDA67938

Miserere mei, Deus

composer
alternatim with plainsong mode 2
author of text
Psalm 51

Westminster Cathedral Choir, Martin Baker (conductor)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: October 2011
Westminster Cathedral, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: January 2013
Total duration: 8 minutes 43 seconds

Cover artwork: The Annunciation with two saints and four prophets (1333). Simone Martini (1284-1344)
& Lippo Memmi (fl1317-1347). Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence / Giraudon / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘The choir is on excellent form and the recorded sound seems perfectly to capture a sense of place, of atmosphere’ (Gramophone)

‘This is an album for those who love the acoustic, the atmosphere and the traditions of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in London … the pacing and cohesion of the Agnus Dei of Palestrina's Missa Emendemus in melius is accomplished and moving, and their singing of plainsong with organ second-to-none’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The true musical spirit of the Lenten season … is to be found in the ancient antiphons, psalms and motets which have been part of the liturgical fabric of the season for centuries. This is what we have here, and an intensely beautiful CD it makes too … nobody could remain untouched by the profound beauty and timelessness of this music, and given these unaffected, sensitive and fluent performances from a choir which has been singing Lenten music in a liturgical context for decades, the result is something very special indeed … this is a beautifully devised programme, sung with ineffable perceptiveness by the Westminster choristers and recorded with utterly natural atmosphere by the Hyperion team’ (International Record Review)
George Malcolm’s tenure as Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral between 1947 and 1959 was legendary. Malcolm fostered a ‘Continental’ sound (still very much in evidence today), which perfectly suits the choir’s core repertory. Malcolm’s Miserere mei, Deus is an alternatim setting of Psalm 51, the lynchpin of the Ash Wednesday liturgy. It switches between upper voices and lower voices in the unadorned chant of the second mode, as well as in Malcolm’s sonorous polyphonic expansion and variation of the chant. The setting ends with all voices joining for the second half of the ‘Gloria Patri’ in statuesque descant.

from notes by Jeremy Summerly © 2013

De 1947 à 1959, George Malcolm fut, à la cathédrale de Westminster, un Master of Music de légende, qui encouragea un son «continental» (encore très présent aujourd’hui), idéal pour le répertoire principal du chœur. Son Miserere mei, Deus est une mise en musique alternatim du psaume 51, pivot de la liturgie du Mercredi des cendres. On passe des voix supérieures aux voix inférieures dans le plain-chant dépouillé du deuxième mode, ainsi que dans le retentissant développement polyphonique et dans la variation que Malcolm en fit. L’œuvre termine en réunissant en un sculptural déchant toutes les voix pour la seconde moitié du «Gloria Patri».

extrait des notes rédigées par Jeremy Summerly © 2013
Français: Hypérion

George Malcolms Amtszeit als Master of Music an der Westminster Cathedral von 1947 bis 1959 war legendär. Malcolm förderte einen „kontinentalen“ Klang (der noch heute deutlich hörbar ist), der zu dem Kernrepertoire des Chors ideal passt. Malcolms Miserere mei, Deus ist eine Alternatimsvertonung von Psalm 51, der Dreh- und Angelpunkt der Aschermittwochsliturgie. In dem Werk wird zwischen den Oberstimmen und Unterstimmen hin- und hergewechselt, wobei sowohl der unverzierte Cantus des zweiten Modus als auch Malcolms klangvolle polyphone Erweiterung und Variierung des Cantus erklingt. Die Vertonung endet damit, dass alle Stimmen in der zweiten Hälfte des „Gloria Patri“ zusammen mit einem imponierenden Diskant auftreten.

aus dem Begleittext von Jeremy Summerly © 2013
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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