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Track(s) taken from CDA67479

Ave Maria a 8

composer
8vv SATB SATB
author of text
Antiphon to the Blessed Virgin Mary

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: 4 minutes 15 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

The London Oratory Schola Cantorum, Charles Cole (conductor)
The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips (conductor)
The Cambridge Singers, John Rutter (conductor)
The Rodolfus Choir, Ralph Allwood (conductor)

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
The eight-voice setting of Ave Maria is extended and sumptuous, for two equal SATB choirs, opening with the words of the Ave Maria chant taken from chapter 1 of St Luke’s Gospel. This setting is written in a most effective antiphonal style which alternates passages of homophonic writing, some of them in triple time, with more polyphonically conceived exchanges of great spaciousness and fullness.

from notes by Jon Dixon © 2004

L’arrangement de l’Ave Maria à huit voix est un somptueux développement du motet pour deux chœurs identiques (SATB). Il s’ouvre sur les mots de l’Ave Maria du chapitre 1 de l’Évangile de Saint Luc. Cet arrangement est écrit dans un style antiphonaire d’un grand effet. Il fait alterner les passages d’écriture homophonique, certains à trois temps, avec les échanges conçus directement en polyphonie, ce qui confère à l’ensemble une impression d’espace et d’ampleur.

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

Die achtstimmige Ave Maria ist eine ausgedehnte und prächtige Fassung für zwei Chöre (SATB) von wiederum gleicher Stärke. Die Motette beginnt mit den Worten des aus dem ersten Kapitel des Lukasevangeliums entnommenen Chorals Ave Maria. Diese Vertonung wurde in einem äußerst effektiven Stil komponiert, wo sich Passagen aus homophoner Faktur (einige davon im Dreiermetrum) mit eher polyphon empfundenen Dialogen von großer Weite und Fülle einander abwechseln.

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

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