COMPOSERS: Victoria
LABELS: Decca
WORKS: Requiem Mass; Motets
PERFORMER: Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge/George Guest; Choir of Westminster Cathedral/ George Malcolm; Choir of King’s College, Cambridge/Stephen Cleobury
CATALOGUE NO: 433 914-2 ADD/DDD (1960)
The Spanish composer Victoria gave us some of the finest church music of the late Renaissance. The highlight of this compilation is his Responsorios de Tinieblas, rich polyphonic music of grave, almost mystical, intensity: George Malcolm’s celebrated 1960 recording still grips with its sorrowful beauty. Stephen Cleobury captures the demure serenity of the Misa O quam gloriosum reasonably well, but the pieces directed by George Guest (all of disc 1) tend to lack focus. Texts are not included. Graham Lock
Victoria: Requiem Mass; Motets
The Spanish composer Victoria gave us some of the finest church music of the late Renaissance. The highlight of this compilation is his Responsorios de Tinieblas, rich polyphonic music of grave, almost mystical, intensity: George Malcolm’s celebrated 1960 recording still grips with its sorrowful beauty. Stephen Cleobury captures the demure serenity of the Misa O quam gloriosum reasonably well, but the pieces directed by George Guest (all of disc 1) tend to lack focus. Texts are not included. Graham Lock
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:34 pm