Lassus: Missa Bell'Afitrit altera; Penitential Pslam VII; Four motets

Professional choirs have recently taken the initiative in recording Renaissance music. These CDs, mostly from the Sixties, employ boys' voices, and allow us to reassess the period when King's College, Cambridge, was regarded as the purveyor of the 'English style' and St John's as that of the 'continental' style. The repertory they perform on these discs only goes to reinforce these stereotypes: King's provides Gibbons, Tallis and Byrd; St John's performs Palestrina and Victoria, while Christ Church, Oxford, takes the mid-ground with Lassus.

Our rating

4

Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:46 pm

COMPOSERS: Lassus
LABELS: Decca
WORKS: Missa Bell'Afitrit altera; Penitential Pslam VII; Four motets
PERFORMER: Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford/Simon Preston
CATALOGUE NO: 433 679-2 ADD Reissue

Professional choirs have recently taken the initiative in recording Renaissance music. These CDs, mostly from the Sixties, employ boys' voices, and allow us to reassess the period when King's College, Cambridge, was regarded as the purveyor of the 'English style' and St John's as that of the 'continental' style. The repertory they perform on these discs only goes to reinforce these stereotypes: King's provides Gibbons, Tallis and Byrd; St John's performs Palestrina and Victoria, while Christ Church, Oxford, takes the mid-ground with Lassus.

Hearing these performances again, St John's sounds as vigorous as I remembered, yet I found the men's voices in the reduced sections forced in their vocal production, and the tempo changes romantically exaggerated. By contrast, King's sounds insipid and turgid, demonstrating how much they have improved recently. Predictably, they sound more at home in Gibbons, the earliest recording. Christ Church appears far more assured and precise than either of the Cambridge choirs; though dynamics and tempi are rather exaggerated, vocal tone is far better controlled.

It is good to hear these collegiate choirs, but the pleasure involves sacrificing what we now know about the use of lower voices and pitches, vocal ornamentation and regularity of pulse and dynamics, as well as improved recording methods. But such recordings constitute a tradition in their own right, and are therefore mostly worth reissuing. They will surely find a ready market. Graham Dixon

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