Biber Requiem [Import]

Georg Muffat (Composer), Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (Composer), Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (Composer), Abraham Megerle (Composer), Anonymous (Composer), Orlande de Lassus (Composer), Paul McCreesh (Conductor), Gabrieli Consort & Players (Performer), Timothy Roberts (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Gabrieli Consort & Players, Timothy Roberts
• Conductor: Paul McCreesh
• Composer: Georg Muffat, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Abraham Megerle, Anonymous, et al.
• Audio CD (September 27, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Archiv Prod Import
• ASIN: B0002UNQ7C
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,335 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #49 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > M to P

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Early Modern Requiem Mass, April 9, 2006

By 

Scott D. Harris (Chattanooga, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Biber Requiem (Audio CD)

This program, a "celebration" of the 300th anniversary of the death of 17th century German composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644 - 1704), contains two Biber works and a number of smaller pieces from contemporaries such as Schmeltzer and di Lasso. "In the midst of life, we are in death" is the basis for this program, intended to illustrate the early modern pre-occupation with life and death in the wake of the Thirty Years War.

The listener is invitation to compare and contrast Biber's Mass in B and Requiem in F minor. The Mass, we are advised, was likely written for a smaller village church, while the Requiem appears to have been designed for performance in Salzburg Cathedral.

Of the two, the Requiem is a much more compelling and involving work. The harmonies, varied and rich, along with the instrumentation, I simply found to be of much higher order and complexity.

More people should set aside an hour to hear this timeless and ageless 17th century music - written long before the harried, stressful pace of our 21st century "McWorld" - and allow themselves the luxury of a trip backwards in time to a world lit only by fire. I also wouldn't hesitate to buy this disc if you are looking for great examples of early modern German liturgical music performed by perhaps the best "historically informed" ensemble currently in the business. Overall, the disc must be considered another "win" for musical historian Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort. Recorded at the Tonbridge School Chapel in Kent and making use of an organ modeled after a 17th century Italian chamber organ from Lucca, sound quality is very good, with vocal clarity and a realistic bass result.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wouldn't Paul McCreesh Be Surprised ..., May 5, 2011

By 

Giordano Bruno (Wherever I am, I am.) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Biber (Audio CD)

... to find himself credited with this performance!

McCreesh is the director of the Gabrieli Consort, an ensemble specializing in 17th C music which has indeed made recordings of the Bohemian composer Heinrich Ignatz Biber (1644-1704). One of those recordings is described in the only previous review on this product page. However, if you listen to the samples here, you'll discover: A) This isn't Paul McCreesh's "bag" & B) It's not bad gypsy music, if indeed that's the genre. Not my "bag" either, but definitely lively.