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Track(s) taken from CDA67579

Pacis amans

composer
6vv
author of text

Cinquecento
Recording details: June 2006
Dominikanerkirche, Retz, Austria
Produced by Stephen Rice
Engineered by Markus Wallner
Release date: February 2007
Total duration: 5 minutes 7 seconds
 

Reviews

‘From this showing, Cinquecento would be well placed to advocate Vaet further. An all-male a cappella ensemble, they sound clear and bright, and articulate the music lucidly’ (Gramophone)

‘The fine motets recorded here suggest that his [Vaet] skill in achieving the closest possible union between text and music was comparable with that of Lassus. This is especially obvious in the darkly sonorous Videns Dominus, which tells the story of the raising of Lazarus, with its slow sustained evocation of Jesus's grief, and the climactic rising and falling scale figures symbolising the opening of the tomb. Ascendetis post filium provides the basis for an attractive Mass by his colleague Antonius Galli, which also contains many Lassus-like touches, including sudden brief bursts of triple time and the reiteration of quirky little rhythmic figures … Cinquecento's six male voices produce a rich and expressive sound … this is a very promising debut disc’ (The Daily Telegraph)

Continuo lacrimas, Vaet's gracious lament on the death of the composer Clemens non Papa, is a small masterpiece both in technique and emotional resonance … Cinquecento is an all-male vocal ensemble with members drawn from five European countries … the voices are young, lithe, pure in intonation and warm in timbre—in short, ideal for interpreting Renaissance polyphony. Their phrasing is supple, mellifluous and understated, while always alert to the musical rhetoric … no lover of Renaissance polyphony should overlook this outstanding début recording’ (International Record Review)

‘This revelatory disc, beguilingly sung, includes Galli's exquisite Missa Ascendetis post filium’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Such a collection of rarities would be commendable even if the performances were not so fine. Cinquecento makes this a triumphant debut recording, indicating that we can look forward to more Renaissance polyphony of similar interest. The six male voices, based in Vienna but coming from five countries, display a fine ensemble, doubtless a necessary result of working together without a leader. The Mass by Galli is worth the price of the disc, a fine work of the period and the sort of thing that was just waiting to be revived. Give this disc a hearing and be prepared for a revelation’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘A jaw-droppingly beautiful collection of a capella choral works by Jacobus Vaet, Antonius Galli, Pieter Maessens and Orlando Lassus performed by the male six-voice ensemble Cinquecento. All were written for the 16th-century Hapsburg court, and they run the gamut from Vaet's sweetly straightforward antiphon 'O quam gloriosum' to Galli's brilliant parody mass on 'Ascendetis post filium'. Cinquecento's sound is creamy and sweet, and the music is exceptionally fine. Highly recommended’ (CD Hotlist, USA)

‘This is Cinquecento's debut recording, an all-male ensemble which promises to rival the best of their kind in the choral scene. Indeed these are thrilling, exhilarating performances which should go a long way towards establishing this repertoire on a sounder footing. Worth buying, if only for Vaet's masterly motets … [Missa Ascendentis post filium] is a slow and 'deliberate' work. Listen to the mournful 'Kyrie' with some of the qualities of a dream, moving slowly and barely making an impact on the world, on which it yet so totally relies. That, convincingly, is how Cinquecento present it. No fuss, no undue emphasis on its heights and depths. Yet it's all the more impressive for their holding back as they feel their way through the music. Their performance—listen to the Gloria—has a particularly effective mix of majesty, magnificence and intimacy. Pretty much how you would expect and have wanted a contemporary performance to have sounded. This Mass is perhaps the high-point of this disc; the Credo, for instance, is a movement of ethereal beauty, intensely personal and low key but with a conviction—given the parallel dedication and careful drive of Cinquecento—that lends this highly colored work such power and feeling’ (Classical.net)

«Pour servir cette 'Musique à la cour de Maximilien II de Bohême', oncle de Charles Quint, le chant de l'ensemble Cinquecento est séduisant. La qualité des tutti, l'accord homogène (et légèrement réverbéré) entre l'agilité des pupitres aigus et l'ampleur des basses font sonner les nombreuses trouvailles harmoniques qui parsèment ces oeuvres méconnues … la chapelle de Maximilien II regroupait surtout des compositeurs flamands de la génération de Nicolas Gombert, c'est-à-dire inspirée par un flux musical continu. Des aspérités harmoniques viennent rehausser des textures denses sous la forme de fausses relations que Cinquecento fait sonner avec beaucoup d'adresse, surtout dans le beau motet de déploration Continuo lacrimas» (Le Monde de la Musique, France)
Although Orlandus Lassus was never in imperial service, the close relationship between Maximilian and the Dukes of Bavaria, Lassus’s employers, meant that there was a frequent and cordial exchange of music between the two courts. Pacis amans was composed in celebration of Maximilian’s crowning as King of Bohemia in 1562. It displays many of the characteristics that made Lassus the most popular and widely disseminated composer of the century, including his mastery of text setting and ability to create musical ebb and flow around Latin verse, as well as his innovative and varied approach to harmonic writing.

from notes by Stephen Rice © 2007

Orlandus Lassus ne fut jamais au service impérial, mais l’étroite relation qui existait entre Maximilien et les ducs de Bavière—ses employeurs—impliqua de fréquents et cordiaux échanges de musique entre les deux cours. Composé pour célébrer le couronnement de Maximilien comme roi de Bohême (1562), Pacis amans affiche nombre des caractéristiques qui firent de Lassus le compositeur le plus populaire et le plus largement diffusé de son siècle—citons sa maîtrise de la mise en musique du texte, son aptitude à créer un flux et un reflux musical autour du vers latin, mais aussi son approche novatrice et plurielle de l’écriture harmonique.

extrait des notes rédigées par Stephen Rice © 2007
Français: Hypérion

Obwohl Orlandus Lassus nie im kaiserlichen Dienst stand, bedeutete die enge Beziehung zwischen Maximilian und den Herzögen von Bayern, Lassus’ Dienstherrn, dass zwischen den beiden Höfen ein häufiger, freundlicher Austausch von Musik bestand. Pacis amans wurde anlässlich Maximilians Krönung zum König von Böhmen 1562 komponiert. Es weist viele der Merkmale auf, die Lassus zum beliebtesten und am weitesten verbreiteten Komponisten des Jahrhunderts machten, einschließlich seiner meisterlichen Vertonung des Textes, seiner Kunst, musikalisches Auf und Ab um die lateinischen Verse zu kreieren und seinem innovativen und vielfältigen Ansatz zur harmonischen Schreibweise.

aus dem Begleittext von Stephen Rice © 2007
Deutsch: Renate Wendel

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