Trio Mediaeval: Soir, Dit-Elle

Trio Mediaeval (Artist), Leonel Power (Artist), Gavin Bryars (Artist), Ivan Moody (Artist), Gregorian Chant (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 27, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ecm Records
• ASIN: B00012SZTK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,808 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #26 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Early Music > General
  • #29 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Early Music > General AAS
  • #35 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Early Music > Vocal & Song > General AAS

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Coldly beautiful, June 2, 2004

By 

J. TIMMERMAN (Lawson, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trio Mediaeval: Soir, Dit-Elle (Audio CD)

Trio Mediaeval, a three-women European a cappella choir, presents here a minimalist programme of medieval three-part harmony mixed with 20th century pieces in the same style.

Leonel Power's (1370-1445) Missa "Alma redemptoris mater" is presented in its entirety but broken up with pieces by English composers Ivan Moody, Gavin Bryars and Andrew Smith, and Ukrainian Oleh Harkavyy. Power stood alongside John Dunstable as one of the great English composers of the 14th-15th centuries. This mass is probably one of the earliest to use the same "cantus firmus" in all four movements. The chant is repeated by the low voice throughout while the two upper voices create an intricate counterpoint.

The contemporary composers here draw their inspiration from ancient texts and chants to make their own individual polyphony, but sharing the same austere atmosphere as Power's mass.

Trio Mediaeval follows in the footsteps of Anonymous 4 in bringing the beauty of Medieval a cappella vocal music to the public. Tonally Trio Mediaeval is very similar to Anonymous 4 but doesn't quite match that group's precision of vocal delivery. Nevertheless, a nicely recorded album with a touch of cold beauty.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars perfection to little effect, March 7, 2005

By 

Fabiano Seixas Fernandes "fbnfnds" (Florianópolis, SC Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trio Mediaeval: Soir, Dit-Elle (Audio CD)

For those familiar with Trio Mediaeval's first record, WORDS OF THE ANGEL, it is impossible not to compare the two. I'm not talking about natural expectations, but of the fact that SOIR, DIT-ELLE seems to have been structured after WORDS.
Unlike WORDS, however, SOIR dwells greatly on modern repertoire. All contemporary pieces in SOIR seem to have been composed with skill and interpreted to perfection; still, it does not seem to me to be as engaging as WORDS. It wants variety; differences between 13th-century "Missa Alma redemptoris mater" and contemporary pieces are blurred by the homogeneity of mood of the latter: all want to be contemporary rework on medieval vocal music; all want to be slow, melodious and dissonant; all were composed having Trio Mediaeval as ideal performers; as a result, all resemble one another too much. When it comes to the solo pieces, for example, they seem more elaborated than the versions which served them as a starting point (available in WORDS), but it was precisely the original simplicity which made them so touching.
Even though Ivan Moody's pieces aren't as striking as "Words of the angel" (the impact of which is partly due to contrast between its "contemporariness" and the "medievalness" of the rest of WORDS' repertoire, by the way), they are still the most moving.
SOIR, DIT-ELLE is perfect, but still. Perfection may win you over in the end, but might not do much for you in the beginning. It is possible that those who don't know WORDS OF THE ANGEL should have a different take on it, and like it better.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Beautiful, April 19, 2004

By 

Caesar M. Warrington (Lansdowne, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trio Mediaeval: Soir, Dit-Elle (Audio CD)

Like the previous reviewer, I too have fallen in love with this CD and the very lovely and talented ladies who comprise this trio. If you are a fan of the Anonymous 4 then you will definitely enjoy this album.
Beautiful voices in veneration to the Blessed Mother. Soaring harmonies one can imagine penetrating the vaults of the cathedral carrying up and out to Heaven to rest upon the ears of Mother Mary herself.
I strongly recommend this CD to all who love female vocal harmony, madrigals or just beautiful music. Period.