Hyperion Records

Maria Magdalena et altera Maria tells the entire story of the Saint’s visit to the tomb. Here Guerrero is in one of his most descriptive moods. The tender repeated first-inversion chords at the words ‘ungerent Jesum’ (‘to anoint Jesus’), for example, and the clarion call announcement of Christ’s resurrection towards the end of the second part clearly belong to the world of madrigal composition. This narrative motet uses no repetition of musical material and impels the listener forward in a spiritual journey.

from notes by Andrew Carwood © 2010