Tallis Scholars

Essential  

One of the most noted groups in the world of Renaissance music, the Tallis Scholars bring us a compilation of their work from 1980-1998. "The Essential Talllis Scholars," a two CD set, gives us an introduction to the vast amounts of music from this period and their discography. Disc 1 contains motets by such composers as Palestrina, Josquin and Lassus. The opening piece is the incomparably gorgeous "Miserere" by Allegri, which should be in everybody's library. Disc 2 is comprised of works by English composers, such as Tallis and includes Byrd's "Mass for 5 Voices." If you are new to the works of the Tallis Scholars or to the world of Renaissance music, this is a great place to start.

Tallis Scholars

Sing Palestrina

Palestrina is the composer The Tallis Scholars have sung and recorded most frequently and this two discs set contains some of the best, in their view, recordings from the very first record they made commercially (in 1980), to one of the most recent. In general they have concentrated on his Mass settings not least because they make such effective concert music. Palestrina had an unusual ability to write positive, outward-going, major-key music which, over the length of a Mass-setting, is a great strength: penitential writing tends to be more effective in shorter bursts. Three of the four settings in this collection rely on bright sonorities; the fourth – Sicut lilium – is more subdued and sensuous, as the words of the motet require. The Missa Assumpta est Maria, based on his own motet of that name which in turn is based on a short phrase of chant, is a classic example of sonorous Palestrina, its excitement achieved in large part by doubling the sopranos and tenors. The brighter sound this high-scored six-voice (SSATTB) choir produces is then emphasized in the style of the writing, which is more chordal than usual. The parody motet Assumpta est Maria shows the way in its opening bars: the three upper voices are grouped against the three lower ones in easily audible antiphony. This late-Renaissance method is then transferred to the Mass, most obviously in the Gloria and Credo but also in the first Kyrie, where greater elaboration was more customary. The sheer verve of this music has ensured that, along with Papae Marcelli, Assumpta est Maria has remained the most performed of all Palestrina’s 107 Mass-settings. The second disc opens with a six-voice (SSATTB) set of Lamentations, originally the third lesson on the Saturday of Holy Week. The Missa Brevis (for four voices SATB), although relatively ‘short’ and straightforward in musical style, shows Palestrina’s idiom at its most accessible.  

Tallis Scholars

Sing Josquin

 If one were looking for a superstar among Renaissance composers Josquin is unquestionably the front runner. He was a star in his lifetime, travelling more widely, being paid better and having more desirable employment than anyone else; and he has become a star again more recently. It is true that in the centuries in between it has been Palestrina and Tallis who were performed more consistently, where Josquin was forgotten, but this was on account of their simple music, which choirs of any ability could sing. Josquin didn't write any simple music. All his music is complex, intellectually and vocally, posing problems which have only recently been found to represent a supreme challenge. As with Beethoven it is now recognized that facing up to Josquin's message can bring unparalleled rewards; and, more than anywhere else, it is now clear it was in his Mass settings that he expressed that message at its most fluent. There are perhaps fifteen Mass settings by Josquin, all of which are essentially scored for four voices. 

The King's Singers 

Landscape & Time

The King's Singers present a disc of some of their best and most requested repertoire. We are all shaped, perhaps unconsciously, by the landscape and time in which we live. This evocative and spiritual programme, which contains five King's Singers commissions, explores the links between human life and it's surroundings through the different personal languages of poets and composers. Music from the Orkneys to the American desert, from Finland, Estonia and England to Hungary and Japan makes this one of the King's Singers finest recordings in years.

Rutuli Cantores 

Rutuli Cantores

Il coro polifonico Rutuli Cantores nasce ad Ardea nel 1990 per dedicarsi allo studio ed all'esecuzione della musica polifonica, sotto la direzione del Maestro Nerio Mazzini, reduce da una lunga carriera concertistica e discografica con il Coro da Camera della RAI e l'Ottetto Vocale Italiano.