This album is included in the following sets:
This set contains the following albums:
- Producer's Note
- Full Track Listing
- Cover Art
This quite remarkable collection arrived at Pristine Audio ready-assembled, albeit on the original 78s and needing transfer and remastering. It brings together four excellent choirs and a collection of superb early polyphonic sacred music to produce a whole that is entirely satisfying.
All of these recordings were made around the same time; the earliest, from 1929, perhaps shows its age the most. Elsewhere the Sistine Chapel Choir, which almost five hundred of year previously had featured Josquin de Prés among their number, are in good voice. However it is the Dijon Cathedral Choir which shines brightest in this collection, both in terms of performance and recording quality, and it is they who provide the only long-form recording here with the 13'17" Missa Assumpta Est Maria by Palestrina - surely a highlight.
Elsewhere it's fascinating to hear Josquin effectively recycling his melodic material - tracks two and three are both based on the same tune - Ave Coelorum Domina is meditative and slow, whereas Ave Vera Virginitas presents a far more lively interpretation.
The third composer here, Arcadelt, has the Ave Maria assigned to his authorship, though this is now thought doubtful; we have listed him here as the composer as shown on the original 78. It is also now considered unlikely that Josquin was the original author of the Ave Verum Corpus. But quibbling over authorship is academic - what we have here is a superb collection of choral music from the 15th and 16th centuries, some of it otherwise unavailable in recorded form in the current catalogue.
Andrew Rose
SACRED CHORAL MUSIC Josquin, Arcadelt, Palestrina (1929-1933)
Missa Assumpta Est Maria (Palestrina)
1. Ave Verum Corpus (Josquin de Prés) [Dijon Cathedral Choir (DB 4893)] (3:08)
2. Ave Coelorum Domina (Josquin de Prés) [Dijon Cathedral Choir (DB 4893)] (2:08)
3. Ave Vera Virginitas (Josquin de Prés) [Strasbourg Cathedral Choir (LX 767)] (3:18)
4. Ave Maria (Arcadelt) [Sistine Chapel Choir (DB 1570)] (2:57)
5. Motetto — Sicut Cervus (Palestrina) [Sistine Chapel Choir (DB 1570)] (4:19)
6. Improperia (Palestrina) [Sistine Chapel Choir (DB 1571)] (4:40)
7. Offertorium — Super Flumina (Palestrina) [Sistine Chapel Choir (DB 1571)] (4:05)
8. Missa Assumpta Est Maria (Palestrina) [Dijon Cathedral Choir (DB 4896-7)] (13:17)
9. Benedictus (Uit Missa) (Palestrina) [Amsterdamsch A Capella Koor Bel Canto (DB 17195)] (2:42)
10. Hodie Christus Natus Est (Palestrina) [Amsterdamsch A Capella Koor Bel Canto (DB 17195)] (3:50)
Ave Verum Corpus (Josquin de Prés)
Dijon Cathedral Choir (DB 4893)
Ave Coelorum Domina (Josquin de Prés)
Dijon Cathedral Choir (DB 4893)
Ave Vera Virginitas (Josquin de Prés)
Strasbourg Cathedral Choir (LX 767)
Ave Maria (Arcadelt)
Sistine Chapel Choir (DB 1570)
Motetto - Sicut Cervus (Palestrina)
Sistine Chapel Choir (DB 1570)
Improperia (Palestrina)
Sistine Chapel Choir (DB 1571)
Offertorium - Super Flumina (Palestrina)
Sistine Chapel Choir (DB 1571)
Dijon Cathedral Choir (DB 4896-7)
Benedictus (Uit Missa) (Palestrina)
Amsterdamsch A Capella Koor Bel Canto (DB 17195)
Hodie Christus Natus Est (Palestrina)
Amsterdamsch A Capella Koor Bel Canto (DB 17195)
Sistine Chapel Choir (r.1931)
under the direction of Monsignor Lorenzo Preobi
conducted by Monsignor Antonio Rella
La Maitrise de la Cathedrale de Dijon (r.1933)
sous la Direction de M. J. Samson
Choir of the Strasbourg Cathedral (r.1933)
under the direction of Abbé Alphonse Hoch
Amsterdamsch A Capella Koor Bel Canto (r.1929)
onder leiding van Alphons Vranken
