Customer Reviews

Officium

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the most innovative and sublime CDs in my expansive collection. I'll stay away from trying to explain what centuries the pieces were written in, blah, blah, blah. Bottom line: they were all written before the saxophone was invented. Therefore, Garbarek's "intrusions" should seem as such, interrupting the Hilliard Ensemble's vocalizing. Quite the contrary, though. Garbarek's first notes, although somewhat unexpected, seem quite appropriate and fitted. His "improvisations" around the traditional structure of the vocals are sometimes subtle, sometimes more upfront, but always in keeping with the spirit of the original pieces. He winds and weaves his way around and through the vocal arrangements like a fifth vocalist--no restraints or boundaries but with a keen ear for what will sound good where.

This CD is on my very short list of classical "desert island" discs and ranks right up there with Bobby McFerrin and Yo-Yo Ma's HUSH for improvisational yet traditional music, with ingenious wrinkles thrown in. It's hard to call it straight classical, but it isn't exactly jazz, either. The styles are merged beautifully. The best metaphor I can think of would be a braid: separate entities intertwined and working together for a common goal and a common effect.

Anyone who claims to be a fan of good music--jazz, classical, or whatever--should check out this CD. It is a bit on the mellow side, so don't expect a Keith Jarrett improvisational explosion or a thunderous symphonic event. In the vein of the works of Anonymous 4, another spectacular classical vocal group, this CD is a meditative, almost spiritual experience. It will not disappoint!!

I bought this album on a whim shortly after its release several years ago after never having listened to any of its tracks, and was completely surprised when I heard it being played as I entered the stave church model located in the Norway region of Disney's Epcot Center during my first visit to the park earlier this year, because I have never at any time heard any of its tracks played anywhere outside my home. The stave church is a strange place to play this secular work, but perhaps the layperson might discover the reasons for this if the liner notes included English translations of the Latin. In my opinion, this album is comprised of some of the best blends of music styles I have ever heard. Essentially, the blends consist of Latin lyrics from the pre-12th through 16th centuries set to jazz. According to the liner notes, the vocal quartet produces "chant, reaching back to its pre-literate forms; early polyphony, where the number of parts was a matter of experiment and the same piece could exist in many different versions; and Renaissance motets that were conceived chordally, and might provide structures over which a saxophone could improvise". The unity of these music forms were united in light of the fact that just as jazz had no name at the beginning of the 20th century, polyphony did not have a name when it began 1000 years ago. As the liner notes explain, "these two nameless historical moments were points of departure for two of the most fundamental ideas in Western music: improvisation and composition".

At first I was sceptical about how the fusion of a vocal quartet and a jazz sax would sound. But after the first listening, my opinion changed. This is some of the most perfect music that I have ever heard. If you haven't got a copy of it, I would place an order immediately.

I'm a big fan both of Garbarek and of "early music", so I bought this album with enthusiasm when it first came out a decade ago. I wasn't disappointed, but I do find it uneven. Garbarek was experimenting throughout the process of recording this work, and some of his ideas are better than others. I understand completely those who complain about the soprano sax not blending well with the vocals - there are tracks where it's just too up-front and edgy to fit into the mix. But the tracks where the sax is recorded from further away, particularly those where a tenor sax is used, are absolutely sublime. For those moments, it deserves more than 4 stars. For the moments where the soprano sax is too shrill, I'd take off a fraction of a point if I could, but if I've got to call it a "4" or a "5", I'd give it a 5.

This CD is innovative in many ways: At first impressions Choral and Sax is a not a natural combination. But why not, both have versatility and fragility that complement each other. The Hilliard Ensemble are good, but Jan Garbarek's leadership is breathtaking. Its as if you are floating in a hot air balloon, pure relaxation, and then a strong yet warm draft accelerates your speed. Jan penetrates the tranquility with a sensative vigour that is impressive. This CD is also extremely well recorded. I am an Hi-Fi buff and this is a CD that really shows off the best systems.

...but I really hate the soprano sax played over these beautiful pieces. The singing is superb and the repertoire is rare (only one other recording of the Morales, for instance, and that is done quite differently, anent the sax).

I think I would have liked it better if Garbarak had played a lower horn, like an alto or tenor sax. These pieces are about something, and I don't feel that Gabarak really knew what the texts were about and what the composers were responding to in the texts.

I keep it for the exquisite "Parce mihi Domine" sung withoug the screeching sax.

A wonderfully ecclectic marriage of voice and saxophone and perfect after a hard day at the office. I saw this piece performed at St. Paul's Cathedral in London and this beautiful studio recording captures the resonance and timbre of that unique setting. A wonderful Christmas present for someone you care for.

I heard a track from this CD on the radio and knew that I had to buy it ! I have not regretted my purchase. The music is sublime - the adding of a saxophone to human voices inspired. There are moments where you cannot tell the two apart.

this music is out of this world and can not be compared to any other music I know. Peter Passenier

The music on this recording sounds so inevitably natural that you can quickly overlook the fact that combining jazz saxophone improvisation with medieval vocal composition is an outrageously original and bold idea. In the booklet accompanying this CD, ECM founder Manfred Eicher writes of how the idea came to him while he was in Iceland working on a film. He found himself listening over and over to recordings of Gesualdo's Tenebrae Responsories and Jan Garbarek's saxophone. Never a man to let a good idea languish, Eicher brought Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble together in a monastery to record this achingly beautiful CD. I have played Officium countless times since I purchased it, but when I put it on as I sat down to write this review, it made my flesh tingle yet again to hear its haunting, timeless, wondrous sounds. I simply can't recommend a CD more highly.