Puer Natus Est-Tudor Music for Advent & Christmas [Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import]

Stile Antico (Artist), Tallis (Composer), Taverner (Composer), Robert White (Composer), Byrd (Composer), Sheppard (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Tallis, Taverner, Robert White, Byrd, Sheppard
• Audio CD (October 12, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import
• Label: Harmonia Mundi
• ASIN: B003OXILP6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,542 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Videte miraculum (Thomas Tallis)

2. Audivi vocem de caelo (John Taverner)

3. Rorate caeli desuper (Gradualia I)(William Byrd)

4. Gloria (Missa Puer natus est)(Tallis)

5. Tollite portas (Gradulia I)(Byrd)

6. Sanctus & Benedictus (Missa Puer natus est) (Tallis)

7. Ave Maria (Gradulia I) (Byrd)

8. Agnus Dei (Missa Puer natus est) (Tallis)

9. Ecce virgo concipiet (Gradulia I)(Byrd)

10. Magnificat (Robert White)

11. Puer natus est - plainchant

12. Verbum caro (John Sheppard)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Stile Antico continues to set new standards for Renaissance polyphonic singing. --The Philadelphia Inquirer

Product Description

For their fifth album, young British choral stars Stile Antico turn to Thomas Tallis magnificent seven-part Christmas Mass, based on the plainchant Puer natus est ( A boy is born ). The mass is interspersed with seasonal Tudor music, including William Byrd s exquisite Propers for the fourth Sunday of Advent (from the Gradualia of 1605), responsories by Taverner and Sheppard, Robert White s exuberant setting of the Magnificat, and Tallis own sublime Videte miraculum. All of Stile Antico s previous recordings for harmonia mundi have charted on Billboard and the group has twice earned the Diapason d Or de l année, the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik and twice received GRAMMY® nominations. Their phenomenally successful 2009 release Song of Songs was the winner of a 2009 Gramophone award.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Advent and Beyond: Stilo Antico is Spendid! November 5, 2010

By Grady Harp HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Stile Antico is a group of twelve men and women who sing without conductor and concentrate on music of the Renaissance. This CD is one of the most enchanting of the recordings released this year that focuses on music of the holiday season. But this selection of works goes far beyond capturing the essence of the Advent and Christmas season - the works are timeless and so luminously performed that this will likely be a recording played throughout the year. The quality of sound captured by both the singers and the engineers of this album is truly extraordinary and otherworldly.

The composers for this selection are all from the Tudor period. The recital opens with the Thomas Tallis 'Videte miraculum' that segues into John Taverner's 'Audivi vocem de caelo'. This is followed by the Propers for the Fourth Sunday of Advent by William Byrd framing the Thomas Tallis seven part 'Missa Puer natus est', the focal point of the recording. The resonance of this work reverberates through what sounds like the largest cathedral on earth and is a miracle of clarity of tone and diction. Robert White's 'Magnificat' is the essence of the miracle of the birth that is Christmas. A plain chant - 'Puer Natus Est' - leads into John Sheppard's wondrous 'Verbum caro'. Yes, it is a service to celebrate a season, but it is such glorious music making that it will likely be listened to whenever the need for soul cleansing is needed. Grady Harp, November 10

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Beauty of a Tudor Christmas November 2, 2010

By Dr. Debra Jan Bibel TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Such glorious polyphony! I am not an Early Music enthusiast and cannot provide detailed musical or historical analysis, but I found Tallis's contrapuntal lines clever, and the complexity of his works kept me engaged. His "Missa Puer natus es" certainly is a beautiful gem and I much appreciate being introduced to it. Taverner seemed direct and less inventive, and the plainchant offered even greater contrast. Byrd's tracks were comparatively succinct. White's Magnificat, on the other hand, was magnificent. Three octaves and at times 6 parts! The clarity, precision, and energy of the vocalists in this hybrid SACD/CD envelop the listener, instilling, at least for me, a lightness of being. This would make for a fine Christmas album. It provides nearly 78 minutes of superb singing. I own another recording by Stiles Antico, and while it is nicely engineered and performed, this is the one I would suggest to showcase their talents.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another beauty from Stile Antico March 17, 2011

By Sid Nuncius TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

This is the fifth CD from Stile Antico, and it is well up to the very high standard set by the previous four. For this disc they have chosen music for Christmas and Advent but this is far more than just a "Christmas disc." The music is among the most beautiful written by each of the composers here and is placed in a programme which will repay repeated hearing for many years and at any season. The juxtaposition of Byrd's lovely, concise and deceptively simple sounding Mass propers with Tallis's expansive and resonant mass Puer natus est works particularly well, but every piece on this disc is a true gem.

English Tudor polyphony is the repertoire in which I think Stile Antico really excel, and their singing here of Tallis, Byrd, Taverner, Sheppard and White is really outstanding. They are technically brilliant, with impeccable intonation, a lovely fluency of line and a wonderful balance and blend of voices. The plainchant, too, is excellently sung. They record in a full, resonant acoustic, so that sometimes the clarity of the text and of individual lines is sacrificed to the overall sound - but it is such an exquisite sound that this is a sacrifice well worth making. These works have been recorded by some of the world's very greatest ensembles like The Tallis Scholars and The Cardinall's Musick and, in their individual way, I think Stile Antico hold their own very well alongside those classic recordings.

This is a disc of limpid beauty, with excellent recorded sound, good notes and very attractive presentation. Very warmly recommended.