Officium

Jan Garbarek (Artist), Guillaume Dufay (Artist), Pierre de La Rue (Artist), Cristobal de Morales (Artist), Perotin (Artist), Sarum Chant (Artist), The Hilliard Ensemble (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: The Hilliard Ensemble
• Audio CD (November 16, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ecm Records
• ASIN: B000025IL0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,673 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #95 in Music > Jazz > Orchestral Jazz

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: GARBAREK/HILLIARD ENSEMBLE
Title: OFFICIUM
Street Release Date: 11/16/1999
Domestic
Genre: CLASSICAL CROSSOVER

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFUL, REVERENT AND CELEBRATORY, August 6, 2004

By 

Larry L. Looney (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Officium (Audio CD)

Purists might have some problems with this recoding -- as some of the other reviews reflect. Some of the pieces are so ancient that authors and dates are unknown, chants that could be called Gregorian -- but, as the notes by Hilliard countertenor David Jones point out, 'Before Gregory and Charlemagne got their bureaucratic hands on them, these ancient songs had lives of their own.' Others date from the 12th to 15th centuries. All were written to exalt the faith felt by their authors, to share the joys and hope they felt in their hearts as sound -- and that spirit flows through this release.'

Recorded in the Monastery of St. Gerold, which adds its own ambience to the project, these four fine vocalists along with Jan Garbarek -- one of the most innovative musicians that modern Europe has produced -- let the music flow through them and into the ears and souls of the listener. Garbarek's saxophone seamlessly integrates itself as an added voice -- a testament to the 'vocal' style of playing that has long distinguished his work.

There is no name for this music -- another fact pointed out by Potter in his notes -- and that's something that frees it from preconceptions and expectations. I strongly recommend to the potential listener to enter into this experience with as open a mind as possible -- there's a world of beauty, reverence and emotion waiting on this disc. It would be a shame to allow what might seem an odd combination of musicians and styles to colour its absorption.

Garbarek has ventured outside of the 'jazz' realm on other occasions -- notably, he has explored his Norwegian heritage by delving into traditional music (check out his amazing album ROSENSFOLE, with singer Agnes Buen Garnas). The Hilliard Ensemble has made many fine recordings, presenting music from a broad range of time and style and form. The two met recorded together again in 1998, producing the album MNEMOSYNE -- another beautiful, timeless work.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impossible to ignore, January 9, 2000

By 

Mark Swinton - See all my reviews

This review is from: Officium (Audio CD)

Dr John Potter, in his liner note, states that he and the others featured on this disc "don't have a name" for this potent combination of Renaissance sacred music and jazz improvisation on saxophone. He might have called it "the music of all time"- which would not, in my view, be as presumptious as it sounds. This music is rivetting- it can calm shattered nerves, or it can fire your imagination and send you into new heights of meditative thought. My personal liking for this disc is that the producers included three recordings of the same work, "Parce Mihi" by Morales. Two of these feature saxophone (to show that no two performances are the same) and 'bookend' the disc; the other is placed more or less centrally in the programme and omits the saxophone in case you would prefer to hear the work as originally intended. This was a most thoughtful gesture- but then again, the whole disc oozes thoughtfulness. Essential listening in my honest opinion.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Coltrane hears in heaven, July 15, 2005

By 

Marius Cipolla - See all my reviews

This review is from: Officium (Audio CD)

If you haven't heard any of these tracks before, then almost nothing can prepare you for them. I do feel sorry for those listeners whose sensibilities have been outraged, and who believe that these songs are set in stone, and that no kind of improvisation is legal. The effect must be like seeing (as Prince Charles remarked of a modern building in London) a carbuncle on the face of a loved old friend.

Horrified reactions are, however, in the minority, since this album has sold in immense quantities -- and the reason is the ravishing beauty of the music, which is accessible to anyone with musical ears.

As with several Garbarek recordings, the sax occasionally seems louder than necessary, but then Garbarek must be a difficult performer to record, since his tonal range is so huge.

The natural melodies that flow from Garbarek's three horns have always had an air of belonging half a millennium away from the present; and his genius as a performer enables him to add a fifth voice to these ancient compositions that I am certain the original composers would have found far less shocking than the modern listeners who think them sacrilegious.

This music is heavenly and indescribable, but I urge anyone on this page to listen to the samples (bearing in mind that the sound is ravishing on a proper stereo) and make up your own mind.

Music is nobody's loved old friend, but a great city that needs to keep growing for ever, and this is a wonderful new building to dwell in and perceive beauty.