Customer Reviews

Gabrieli: Symphoniae sacrae II, 1615

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a recording that I have known about for many years, but has not been available since the mid 1980s. In the meantime, I have acquired quite a few Gabrieli discs, and come to love these large scale motets. The recordings of Gabrieli by McCreesh, Parrott, King, Wilson, Eichhorn, and others have brought me great pleasure, but in the back of my mind the existence of this early L'Oiseaux Lyre disc has always sort of nagged me. Being recorded in 1978, it was on the cusp of the historically informed movement in Britain, and something of a breakthrough. Not to mention that many of the performers went on to become the pillars of the HIP scene internationally.

Finally, last year, this seminal disc was re-released, and I like how the packaging matches the (quite attractive) original exactly. I picked it up immediately, and am glad I did. Every movement except one is already in my collection, but that just makes the comparisons with newer recordings easier. And that is the amazing thing; this 30 year old performance competes very well with much newer ones.

This was the first Gabrieli disc to use historic instruments, and scaled-down forces that are closer the that which were used in 16th century Venice. Andrew Parrott practically nailed it dead on with his first try. I keep having to remind myself when this was actually made, because the performance is just about as good as others made now.

I can't say that any one of these motets is my favourite version, but taken as a whole, this set is so very worth having, for it's own merit as well as its historical value. And so inexpensive. Any fan of Gabrieli really should get a copy of this.

A fascinating recording from a time when the music of Giovanni Gabrieli was almost universally misrepresented by all performances and recordings. I think the only really worthy recording of Giovanni Gabrieli's music made before this one was the one made by the Pro Cantione Antiqua London and the gloriously named Hamburger Bläserkreis Für Alte Musik, featuring 2 cornetti, viola and 6 sackbuts. It was on BMG and it featured an entirely male vocal ensemble with a group of boy sopranos for the highest lines. The second part of the LP was dedicated to the sacred music of Lassus, performed by the same forces.

This recording on the L'Oiseau Lyre label was particularly striking. It featured 4 cornetti 7 sackbuts, 2 dulcians, 2 violas, 'cello (not historical for this music), violone and a single organ. A number of soloist are featured: 3 countertenors, 4 tenors and 4 basses and the ubiquitous, at that time, Emma Kirkby on the soprano lines. The Taverner Choir is also present but it is hard to determine if they are separate from the soloists or merely made up of the soloists in the cappella sections.

The works presented all come from Gabrieli's posthumus collection of sacred works Symphonię Sacrę II, 1615 - a collection to this very day remains largely unexplored in performances and recordings.
The works featured here include:

1 Magnificat à 14
2 Suscipe à 12
3 Quem vidistis pastores à 14
4 Buccinate in neomenia tuba à 19
5 In ecclesiis à 14
6 Jubilae Deo à 10
7 Misericordia à 12
8 Surrexit Christus à 11
9 Magnificat à 17

The works are performed with style and some drama, when needed. We know a lot more about performing this music now and some of the works here are much better presented on later recordings - Paul McCreesh's Gabrieli Consort has done some marvellous work with this music, as has Roland Wilson's Musica Fiata Köln. Emma Kirkby is largely redundant here, even though he voice was in fine form. Hearing he sing the top lines of what should be instrumental "high choirs" (solo tenor human voice on the bottom line and all the upper lines, usually three or fours, played by cornetti), sounds very sweet, but it would almost certainly have surprised Gabrieli himself.
There is only one continuo organ and we know that every choir in polychoral works of Gabrieli should have its own continuo organ and perhaps some theorbos or chitarroni would have been better than the second dulcian and 'cello?

However, these are small criticisms in the light of the fact that this recording was made in 1978. The Magnificat à 14 is given a fine performance. and the Magnificat à 17 hasn't been recorded since. In ecclesiis à 14 is given a performance that stacks up well against modern recordings and I was surprised and delighted when I heard the countertenor Timothy Penrose tackling the cantus line of the favoriti choir!

I have to say that it is shame that more of the Symphonię Sacrę II, 1615 hasn't been recorded since. There are many large and smaller scaled works in this monumental collection yet to receive a decent recording. The same goes of Giovanni Gabrieli's Canzone et sonate, 1615, collection of instrumental works, probably the greatest of the period. Is there a complete recording of these works? No. This is a collection crying out to be recorded and it features some of the most detailed instrumental scorings of any collection of music from anywhere in this period.

I may add that Mr Andrew Parrott made some incredible recordings of Giovanni Gabrieli's music in the 1990s for EMI. These are still available on the Virgin label.

A magnificent recording. Although the first by this ensemble, it still remains the best!

The sound produced by this particular combination of instruments and voices will instantly transport you to early 17C Venice and the world of Monteverdi - only this is music by his distinguished (but less long-lived) contemporary Giovanni Gabrieli. Gabrieli provides a rich, stately sonority without quite the heart-stopping novelty of Monteverdi, mostly using the standard musical line-up of sackbuts (precursors of the trombone), cornetts (a warm, reedy, slightly raw clarinet type of instrument), a dulcian (the early bassoon), strings (usually violas) and an organ, accompanying prominent solo voices and a choir used simply and sparingly owing to the dubious professionalism of the choirs available.

There is a quite a lot of reliance upon the technique of alternating duple and triple times for contrasting effect and overall a fairly sober, sombre, reverential mood - although some of the ceremonial motets here, such as the Easter celebration "Surrexit Christus", do achieve a lighter, more skipping quality. This selection of nine pieces from the "Symphoniae Sacrae" posthumously published in 1615 is framed by two grand versions of the "Magnificat" the Vesper canticle. These are the most complex and splendid items here except for the "Buccinate", which is the most festive, florid and celebratory of all the motets.

It is difficult to believe that this recording, made in 1977, was virtually a pioneer effort. Andrew Parrott had a team of famous singers at his disposal, including Baroque specialists Emma Kirby and Nigel Rogers, both instantly recognisable by their pure and grainy timbres respectively; other names will be recognised by Early Music fans. One or two minor bloopers from the wind instruments apart, the standard of execution is very high and both the performance standard and the sound hardly suffer by comparison with more modern recordings.

I deduct one star as I do not find the music quite as varied and enthralling as other reviewers, but that's a personal response. This disc is certainly an excellent introduction to Gabrieli's brilliant idiom.

This disk nicely bridges the gap between the older, modern-brass, big-choir, slow-tempo interpretations and the lilting "authentic" small-force productions of today. While I honestly prefer the more stately older versions as done by E. Power Biggs, I find that the innovations of this disk are very inviting: (1)The version of "Suscipe" with 6 male (low) voices and 6 trombones is glorious in its sonorous twisting of phrases, (2) Emma Kirkby singing in her rich tonality against a brass choir is gorgeous, (3) "Buccinate" with some ornamented antiphonal passages, and (4) the glorious 17-voice Magnificat using thematic material from "Nunc Dimittis" was unexpected. The richly dignified "big" sound is not lost here. The disk is a tribute to Gabrieli's genius and the performers seem dedicated to that tribute, not their own virtuosity. One of the best unsung (excusing the lousy pun) heroes of Early Music Discography!

I have been a fan of Giovanni Gabrieli's works for many years now and am pleased to say that I have his complete Sacre Symphonies Vol. 1 & 2 on vinyl, recorded on the Erato label by Michael Corboz with the Lausanne Ensemble and many soloists. These works were written for St. Mark's Square, Venice in the 16th Century and It's hard to contemplate that Gabrieli was composing in quadraphonic, four centuries before it was invented. The works were performed in the quadrangle of the square with voices & orchestra in each & cannoned across the square. What a spectacle it would have been to have witnessed that. Corboz, re-created that effect in his recordings & it is unfortunate that Erato never transferred them to CD. Shame on you Erato for such a miscarriage of musical justice.
Which brings me to the present excerpts by Andrew Parrott.
My heart just bled out when I heard this CD, what passion, what commitment.
My only regret is that Andrew Parrott never recorded the complete Sacre Symphonies. His soloists are a stellar selection & the Taverner Choir, one of the best Baroque Choirs on this planet, not to mention the performance of the London Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble are magnificent.
If you want to sample Gabrieli's Sacre Symphonies, then this CD is a must have.
All I can say is: Come on Andrew; you have shown us you can handle these symphonies, NOW record the complete set.