Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Click cover art to view larger version
Track(s) taken from CDA67479

Laetatus sum

composer
12vv
author of text
Psalm 121 (122)

Westminster Cathedral Choir, Martin Baker (conductor), Robert Quinney (organ)
Recording details: February 2004
Westminster Cathedral, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: October 2004
Total duration: 6 minutes 56 seconds
 

Reviews

‘The choir of Westminster Cathedral has long been noted for its distinctive Continental-style tone, which gives its performances of Latin sacred polyphony an attractively distinctive quality. This magnificent recording, which shows off Victoria's mastery of the art of writing music for up to three choirs in the grandest possible manner, suggests that 2004 is a vintage year for them … recordings of Renaissance polyphony rarely come much better than this’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘The choir is radiant in its home acoustic, and Martin Baker's well-researched decision to employ an understated organ 'continuo' adds small but telling touches of colour to the texture’ (International Record Review)

‘It is ideally suited to the full-throated, vibrant singing of the Westminster Cathedral Choir, while Martin Baker's finely controlled direction displays a keen architectural sense … a wonderful disc’ (Goldberg)

‘If you painted me into a corner and forced me to choose between Victoria and Palestrina, I’d have to choose the former, much as I love the latter. If I could have just one Victoria recording on my Desert Island, this, from Westminster Cathedral Choir directed by Martin Baker with Robert Quinney (organ) would be very high on the list … this is music that will transport you to a higher plane’ (MusicWeb International)» More
‘I was glad when they said unto me: We will go into the house of the Lord’ are the opening lines of Laetatus sum, a setting of Psalm 122 (121). This is a joyous text which captured the imagination of many composers, and Victoria is no exception. He responded by composing a superb triple-choir motet (for two SATB choirs and one SSABar choir), which uses all the resources of polychoral writing and vocal orchestration to create a vocal structure of great brilliance, richness and variety, and which fully justifies Nappi’s description of him as an ‘unsurpassable composer’.

from notes by Jon Dixon © 2004

«Quelle joie quand on m’a dit: Allons à la maison du Seigneur!». C’est sur ces paroles que s’ouvre le Laetatus sum, basé sur Psaume 122 (121). Ce texte joyeux a capté l’imagination de nombreux compositeurs, et Victoria ne fait pas exception à la règle. Il compose un superbe motet pour trois chœurs (deux SATB et un SSABar) qui utilise toutes les ressources de l’écriture polychorale et de l’orchestration vocale de l’époque, pour créer une structure vocale exceptionnelle, riche et variée, qui justifie pleinement le compliment de Nappi à propos Victoria: «un compositeur inégalable».

extrait des notes rédigées par Jon Dixon © 2004
Français: Marie Luccheta

„Ich freue mich, als man mir sagte: Zum Haus des Herrn wollen wir pilgern“, das sind die ersten Zeilen des auf den neun Versen des 122. (121.) Psalms beruhenden Laetatus sum. Es ist ein fröhlicher Text, der viele Komponisten zur musikalischen Umsetzung angeregt hat, und Victoria ist keine Ausnahme. Er reagierte auf den Text mit einer ausgezeichneten Motette für drei Chöre (zwei Chöre aus SATB und einen Chor aus SSABar), in der er alle Register polyphoner Fertigkeiten und Gesangskunst zog, um ein Stimmgebäude von großer Ausstrahlung, Fülle und Vielfalt zu errichten. Mit dieser Mottete wird Victoria seiner von Nappi geprägten Bezeichnung als „unübertrefflicher Komponist“ völlig gerecht.

aus dem Begleittext von Jon Dixon © 2004
Deutsch: Elke Hockings

Other albums featuring this work

Victoria: Ave regina caelorum & other sacred music
This album is not yet available for downloadSACDA67479Super-Audio CD — Last few CD copies remaining
Waiting for content to load...
Waiting for content to load...