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Track(s) taken from CDA67548

Suscipe quaeso Domine

composer
7vv; AATTBarB; Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur (1575)
author of text

The Cardinall's Musick, Andrew Carwood (conductor)
Recording details: January 2005
Fitzalan Chapel, Arundel Castle, United Kingdom
Produced by Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
Engineered by Martin Haskell & Iestyn Rees
Release date: July 2005
Total duration: 9 minutes 14 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

The Gesualdo Six, Owain Park (director)
The Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)
Chapelle du Roi, Alistair Dixon (conductor)

Reviews

‘In its entirety this disc is a sublime tribute both to one of England's greatest composers, and to the skill and conviction of one of today's finest ensembles’ (Gramophone)

‘This superbly sung selection of some of his finest Latin church music will surely prove to be one of Tallis's very best 500th birthday presents. It is hard to imagine a better performance of the magnificent six-part votive antiphon Gaude gloriosa’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘This is the first manifestation of the new exclusive contract between Hyperion and the Cardinall's Musick. With Andrew Carwood's scholarly approach to Tudor music, coupled with the individual excellence of each of his singers and the superlative production values of Hyperion, I suspect this is going to be a very fruitful collaboration’ (International Record Review)

‘This is a highlight of the Tallis year’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘This marvellously full-throated performance can stand comparison with any … throughout, the performances maintain the high level The Cardinall's Musick have consistently displayed in their Byrd series, being beautifully tuned and balanced … a strong 5-star recommendation’ (Goldberg)
Much discussion has taken place about Suscipe quaeso Domine, a monumental piece in two sections scored for seven voices. It has been suggested that this text, strongly penitential and rhetorical, could have been written and performed at the ceremony when Cardinal Pole (appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Mary Tudor) absolved England from schism in November 1554. Certainly it is full of passion and shows Tallis to have an unusually close relationship with his text. The harmonic shift and use of homophony at the word ‘peccavi’ (‘I have sinned’) juxtaposed with the upward yearning of ‘gratia tua’ (‘by your grace’) is certainly powerful, whilst the emphatic questions in the second part and the repeated ‘Quis enim iustus?’ (‘For what just man?’) demand the listener’s attention. In many ways the involvement with the text and the use of rhetoric seems to lead directly to William Byrd’s setting of Infelix ego, another intensely personal text which gives rise to an intensely personal response from the composer.

from notes by Andrew Carwood © 2005

Œuvre monumentale en deux sections écrite pour sept voix, Suscipe quaeso Domine a suscité bien des débats, d’aucuns ayant suggéré que ce texte, fortement pénitentiel et rhétorique, a pu être destiné à la cérémonie durant laquelle le cardinal Pole (nommé archevêque de Cantorbéry par Marie Tudor) délia l’Angleterre du schisme, en novembre 1554. L’ensemble, qui regorge assurément de passion, montre un Tallis en relation inhabituellement étroite avec son texte. La transition harmonique et l’usage de l’homophonie au mot «peccavi» («j’ai péché»), juxtaposés à l’aspiration ascendante de «gratia tua» («ta grâce»), ne manquent pas de puissance, cependant que les interrogations emphatiques de la deuxième partie et l’énonciation répétée «Quis enim iustus?» requièrent l’attention de l’auditeur. À bien des égards, l’implication dans le texte et l’usage de la rhétorique semblent mener tout droit à la mise en musique que William Byrd fit de Infelix ego, autre texte intensément personnel auquel le compositeur apporte une réponse intensément personnelle.

extrait des notes rédigées par Andrew Carwood © 2005
Français: Hypérion

Suscipe quaeso Domine, ein monumentales Stück in zwei Abschnitten für sieben Stimmen ist viel diskutiert worden. Es wird angenommen, dass der Text, der sehr rhetorisch und reuevoll ist, für die Zeremonie im November 1554 entstanden war, bei der Kardinal Pole (der von Maria Tudor zum Erzbischof von Canterbury ernannt worden war) England vom Schisma entband. Er ist jedenfalls voller Leidenschaft und Tallis pflegt hier eine ungewöhnlich enge Beziehung mit dem Text. Der Harmoniewechsel und das Einsetzen der Homophonie bei dem Wort „peccavi“ („ich habe gesündigt“) wird dem nach oben gerichteten Stöhnen bei „gratia tua“ („deine Gnade“) gegenübergestellt, was besonders wirkungsvoll ist, während die nachdrücklichen Fragen im zweiten Teil und das wiederholte „Quis enim iustus?“ die Aufmerksamkeit des Hörers verlangen. In gewisser Weise scheint die Textgebundenheit und die Rhetorik in direkter Verbindung mit William Byrds Vertonung Infelix ego zu stehen, wiederum ein sehr persönlicher Text, der eine hochgradig intime Antwort vom Komponisten provoziert.

aus dem Begleittext von Andrew Carwood © 2005
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

Other albums featuring this work

English Motets
Studio Master: CDA68256Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Tallis: The Complete Works, Vol. 3
SIGCD003Download only
Tallis: The Votive Antiphons
CDA68250 Early Choral albums for £8.00
Vigilate!
Studio Master: SDG720Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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