Customer Reviews

In Paradisum: Music of Victoria and Palestrina

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This is a very special recording. I have a large collection of recordings of Renaissance music, but few are as breathtaking and touching as this one. Even by the exalted standards of this great vocal quartet, it must be counted a triumph.

One often hears the music of Palestrina and Victoria referred to as the "grand style" of Renaissance music: measured, big, and slightly impersonal. Not here. Here it is intimate, immensely moving, and seems to be a living thing. The ensemble singing is so perfect you can almost hear the singers listening to one another, as one voice after another ventures out into the darkness, only to be met by another. And rather than marching on to their preordained destinations, they seem to feel one another's presence. The attention and responsiveness of the singers is dazzling.

There is, in fact, an element of tentativeness in these interpretations, as though the music is being improvised and negotiated on the spot. I hear, above all, a sense of discovery: discovery of the simple beauty of voices sounding together in harmony.

The austere, intimate beauty of the polyphonic pieces is only enhanced by having them interpolate between sections of Gregorian chant. And, let it be said, even the chant sections are rendered with great care and feeling.

Though I think this one of the greatest recordings of the past decade, it seems to have passed quietly below the radar screen of award competitions. Perhaps it is just as well; this music will find its listeners. The Penguin Guide complains about the atmosphere of "doom and gloom", which is an embarrassing misapprehension on their part. The voices emerge from the darkness, true enough, and that impression is uncannily portrayed. They are singing a funeral rite, true enough, and they would be remiss if they did not bring to the music an element of sadness. But the result is poignant and luminous. This recording is one of the great glories of recorded sound.

Here we have unadorned beauty shorn of self-conscious and extrovert notions of performance and virtuosity. The result is music imbued with a sense of mystery and detachment from the world. The Hilliard Ensemble provides an exquisite reading of the plainsong melodies of the Requiem. They alternate these with simple imitative polyphonic settings of responsory texts from the Office of the Dead or the Burial Service. The acoustics of the monastery of St Gerold provide a wondrous balance of focussed sound and upholstered tone, along with a lingering echo. One cannot help but to fall in love with such high loveliness. The recording opens with a haunting rendition of Victoria's 4-part "Taedet animam meam". For these few minutes alone, it is worth owning the CD. Few recordings manage to convey the quiet beauty and power of a large section of Renaissance music which may, at first sight, not seem to be much on paper. This recording equals, and in some instances surpasses, the ethereal sound of the 1987 Tallis Scholars recording of Victoria's Requiem. I have only one problem. The blurb by Ivan Moody requires a response: even Renaissance sacred music has beauty and value which demand an anthropocentric, "secular" appreciation. It is rather tedious to have experts with anachronistic liturgical axes to grind!

Of the many recordings by the Hilliard Ensemble few that I recall have been as deeply memorable as this one. Usually I must confess to preferring other composers of the Renaissance but when Palestrina is played like he is here resistance becomes futile. Of course the Victoria sounds wonderful too but it is the Palestrina here that really got under my skin. In fact I can scarcely think of any recordings of music by Palestrina that I have found as deeply affecting and memorable as the motets recorded here. The whole recording is conceived as a liturgical reconstruction of an Office for the Dead with chant sections from the Graduale Romanum from Toul in France being used as an example of typical post-Council of Trent reforms.

The coverslip notes are also very good and thorough. The majority of it is written authoritatively in English although there is an untranslated section in German. The German notes by Uwe Schweikert, entitled 'Listen with the Ears of the Heart', is basically a history of the origins of the Requiem Mass from early Romanesque origins through Ockeghem and all the way onwards to Mozart and Verdi. I must say the description of the Latin Requiem as once having been a musical 'Gesamtkunstwerk' (sic) is a bit over-the-top! Schweikert concludes with a brief background to the musical careers of Palestrina and Victoria. The description of Palestrina is however particularly memorable: "The principle of this style is the minutely woven, extremely discreet compositional calculation on all levels of the musical structure." Victoria is characterised as a typical Spanish Counter-Reformation mystic. I like the point that in the post-Council of Trent period of reformation, both composers make full use of "expressive, highly melismatically formed Gregorian chant melodies" which "tie the score of Palestrina and Victoria together". So if you don't read German that's basically what the text says - thank goodness the English and German notes don't contradict each other. Don't laugh - this is exactly what happens on a Deutsche Gramophon issue I own.

For some reason published reviews of this recording are scant and how it managed to slip through almost unnoticed without winning any deserved awards is beyond me but David Vernier somehow managed to get a copy for review on Classicstoday online. His conclusions were:

"The Hilliards once again have proven that as interpreters of early vocal music, they are uniquely qualified. This is communication on the highest level, both among the group members and with an ever appreciative and satisfied audience."

He gave it a 10/10 rating for performance/recording with the comment that "you will hear music and singing that's as close to the disc's title, In Paradisum, as you will get on earth".

The excellent recorded sound coupled with some of the finest Palestrina and Victoria I have ever heard combine for an unforgettable recording that every lover of Renaissance polyphony will want to hear.

The French music of Palestrina and Victoria continues to be some of the most beautiful and music from the 17th century. Based on themes of absolution and redemption, IN PARADISUM shows the close relationship between chant and vocal polyphony in liturgical music during a time of continuous compositional flux. Set largely on texts from the Graduale Romanum (1627), the formidable Hilliard Ensemble presents this music with a delicate sense of authority and control. Combining plain chant with song, the ensemble explores the similarities of these styles on one recording. These two composers, under scrutiny by the Council of Trent, were encouraged to produce musical settings that enhanced the intelligibility of sung text. Using homophonic and syllabic word-settings, these compositions reflect the major changes in the use of Gregorian chant at the time. With many composers using freer rhythms and exploring emotionally expressive elements of music and liturgy, a trend was born. Represented here are extraordinary melismas and solemn melodies, filled with passionate undertones of longing and despair. Through these new interpretations, Palestrina and Victoria's music will remain timeless in the modern age. For the Hilliard Ensemble, it is another marvelous recording worthy of the highest praises.

As usual, a few words on the music is in order. The pieces sung are of the highest quality - the Requiems of Palestrina and Victoria are among the best ever written and are pinnacles of Renaissance art (and all art for that matter). Also, the chant lends an appropriate sense of worship to the rest of the pieces. The Hilliard Ensemble is one of my favorite early music groups. Their tone quality, depth, warmth, and balance are excellent. Nowhere is their skill better displayed than in the immaculately sung Taedet anima mea on this recording. It is taken much more slowly than by other groups, is sung in the original, untransposed pitch, and of course the aforementioned qualities of the ensemble's singing shine through. The quality of the music sung and the quality of the singing are not in question here. So why am I torn? Well I'll explain. Victoria's Requiem mass is scored for six voices, and the Libera Me, recorded here is not an exception - the scoring is for six voices (I checked - but please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, which I don't think I am). Palestrina's Requiem is scored for 5 voices (and I haven't checked, but the Libera Me should be as well unless a different voicing is adopted for that section). The Hilliard Ensemble, though, is made up of four singers. The notes do not mention, and my somewhat experienced ear does not hear, additional voices in the above mentioned sections (once again I could be wrong). The only conclusion that I can come the ensemble simply left out parts which they did not have the voices to sing. That decision is hard for me to reconcile on an artistic level, and as a listener I cannot enjoy the bare sound of the harmony which results from their being stripped of some parts. Another objection I have is one I've never had to make before. The liner notes contain, instead of one section of notes translated into multiple languages, various DIFFERENT notes in English and German. There is a section in English, followed by a German section which does not say the same thing as the previous English one, then another English section, and that's it. I don't know much German but it's obvious that the text represented is not the same as the English. Furthermore, the notes contain some quotations from various sources, many of which are not in English and are not accompanied by English translations. I can't think of any reason that this random, haphazrd approach was taken. I would very much like to know what the German section and the French quotations say. Anyway, that anomaly does not detract from the importance of this recording. There is much excellent singing here, despite some strange and even worrisome phenomena. Recommended...

This is a very welcome reissue of an excellent disc by the Hilliard Ensemble. It consists of responsories and motets by Palestrina and Victoria, two truly great composers, from their settings for the Office of the Dead, set among appropriate plainsong chants taken from the Toul Graduale Romanum of 1627.

The overall effect is extremely beautiful. The polyphonic settings almost seem like islands in a sea of chant, so whether you like this disc will depend on your attitude to plainsong. I find undiluted chant hard to take in any great quantity but for me it works extremely well in a setting like this in which the polyphony and chant complement and give meaning to each other. The works by Palestrina and Victoria are not among their best known (two of the three pieces by Victoria come from his 1592 Officium defunctorum, rather than his famous setting of 1605 and were completely new to me) but are very fine, and the whole is a very involving, fulfilling programme.

The singing of the Hillard Ensemble is, as always, exceptionally good. I know that David James's exceptionally plangent countertenor isn't to everyone's taste, but I love their characteristic spare sound and they sing with impeccable precision and real feeling for the texts - including the chant, which lifts it well above some of the rather bland stuff which has been packaged for the chill-out market. They bind everything into a really meaningful whole, and I think it is an exemplary performance.

With excellent recorded sound, full texts and translations, good notes and attractive presentation, this is a terrific release and I recommend it very warmly.

The Hilliard Ensemble (countertenor, two tenors, and baritone) cannot be bested. Their ability to recreate the music of the the Renaissance in as perfect and exact a manner as is possible today is unchallenged. This recording of unaccompanied music by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594), Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) and the anonymous Graduale Romanum, Toul was recorded in the Austrian Monastery of St. Gerold, renowned for its vaulted acoustical splendor. The result is a recorded experience that can only be described as mystical. The works, impeccably sung by the Hilliard Ensemble both together and in solo passages, are enhanced by the echoing acoustic of the Monastery. The members of the ensemble - DAVID JAMES countertenor, ROGERS COVEY-CRUMP tenor, JOHN POTTER, tenor, and GORDON JONES baritone - are musicians as well as musical historians and they understand this period of Renaissance music well and perform it selflessly. This recording should not be dissected work by work, examining the features of each piece, but instead should be approached as a spiritual experience. It will strengthen the library of every music lover, no matter the period of preference. Grady Harp, December 10

The amazing vocal interplay of the Hilliard Ensemble brings to life this 17th century polyphony of Victoria and Palestrina. There may be some readers who are thinking, "not another Chant recording, please," but this recording is definitely not just another session designed to cash in on the surprising success of that genre. These four singers blend their voices in a dazzling display of talent, making this music come to life. Recorded in a monastery, the sound is haunting and captivating at the same time. For those who enjoy the sound of the human voice in all its splendor, this is a highly recommended recording.