Search - Pro Cantione Antiqua :: Palestrina: Masses (Box Set)

A remarkable bargain

Sator | Sydney, Australia | 08/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Recordings by the pioneering Pro Cantione Antiqua are increasingly becoming collector's items for the cognoscenti. These performances of Palestrina Masses form a superb set of reference recordings of this seminal composer of the Seconda Prattica - if I may use Monteverdi's term. They have a place in the library of anyone with a serious interest in 16th century Renaissance music.



As an early music all male choir the Pro Cantione Antiqua very often remain unsurpassed in the excellence of their interpretation of Renaissance polyphony. At times they even put the Tallis Scholars quite in the shade. The Missa Papae Marcello here is perhaps as good a performance I have yet to hear, and is definitely my reference recording. The blend and balance of voices and above all their phrasing seem perfectly suited to the exquisite refinement characteristic of the 'Palestrina style'.



The works found on this 5 CD set are:



Missa Assumpta Est Maria

Missa Papae Marcelli

Miss Aeterna Christa Munera

Missa L'homme Armé (4 vocum)

Missa Brevis

Missa 'Lauda Sion'

Super Flumina Babylonis

Sicut Cervus

Lamentations of Jeremiah, Book IV



In due course I imagine that some of their recordings will emerge from the original record labels that made them, but that may take years. In the meantime small independent releases such as this of archive recordings are highly welcome. Regis seems to be another label issuing old Pro Cantione Antiqua recordings, so even if this issue from Brilliant becomes unavailable there is an alternative.



The sound quality here is also excellent and as acquiring the set doubled up on the recording of the Missa Papae Marcello, I can say that these transfers represent a substantial improvement on an old 1987 issue I have owned for many years. The soundstaging is wider, and the focus much cleaner, with successful removal of the gritty glassiness of many late first generation 1980's digital issues. Recording dates have unfortunately been omitted but I believe all of these recordings were recorded in the late 1980's and indeed all them are fully digital. I do know for certain that the Missa Papae Marcello here was recorded between January 31 to Feburary 1st, 1987 at St Alban's Church, London.



The only drawback on these issues is that liner notes are absent - except for the sung text of works - so you might want to find a good book on Palestrina's music to help fill in details to the background behind the compositions. I find really decent liner notes are a rarity in any case and so getting more in depth discussion elsewhere is always preferable.



All in all this is a remarkable bargain that anyone in-the-know about these recordings will snap up. If the Pro Cantione Antiqua are new to you and you have an interest in Palestrina then you are in for a quite a treat."

Pure Natural Musical Expression

Michael Paull | lawrence, kansas United States | 10/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Palestrina is a composer who lives on in the minds of the general music-loving public, primarily through church services and community choral concerts, and of course, recordings by premiere touring star vocal ensembles. Usually, when we hear something of this composer live, it's as part of a larger mixed program, along with many other composers who wrote for this kind of setting.



So sometimes, poor Palestrina gets a bit lost in the mix, as one more Renaissance composer who specialized in vocal counterpoint, and wrote some lovely music for a Sunday afternoon service. That's easy to have happen, since that particular era was rife with brilliant choral music to go with such an occassion, and by so many great masters (Byrd, Lassus, Tallis, etc.). So what makes this guy so special within that kind of company?



To answer this, I would first paraphrase a writer I once came across (the name of whom, sadly, I cannot remember) who seemed to really put his finger on what Palestrina's style of vocal writing was about. He said, in effect: This particular composer was really reviving a form of sacred vocal music that was already quite old when he came along. That music was Gregorian Chant. While his brilliant and innovative contemporaries were composing vocal works of great harmonic and rhythmic complexity, and embracing so many of the colorful compositional techniques of the newer secular/instrumental movements going on at the time, Palestrina kept to a more singular type of vision. He took the basic style of Gregorian chant in all its simplicity of expression, and economy of means, and found a way to 'polyphonize' it without disturbing those very elements that made it work so well as a form of "unison" singing for so many centuries.



After I read this very interesting and seemingly insightful commentary, I pulled out my copy of the Pro Cantione Antiqua singing Palestrina's "Missa Aeterna Christa Numera", and gave it another listen. From the the opening lines of the Kyrie, I immediately got the same impression that the writer was trying to convey, and that was of a kind of unfettered purity, simplicity, and emotional directness that is unique to Gregorian Chant. In fact, the whole thing sounded to me like several monks starting their chants at different times, and singing in different registers, and making the whole thing sound almost IMPROVISED! Some of the more angular archaic church modes are done away with here, and the melodic and harmonic movement has a much more 'contemporary' ring to it, right down to the IV-V-I cadences, and liberal use of major 3rds, but the overall sense and 'flavour' of early European chant is completely intact, and comes through with real authenticity in these wonderful performances.



That improvisational sense I spoke of informs the sounds heard on this recording, and definitely gives me the feeling of a music so direct and 'unstylized', that I would almost hesitate to even catigorize it as a "Classical Album". It belongs with the chants and liturgical musics that predate any contemporary notions of style, and as such, could take its place beside any beautifully sung devotional music from any place or time."

A voice teacher and early music fan

George Peabody | Planet Earth | 04/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"PALESTRINA=PURITY OF COMPOSITION WHILE PRO CANTIONE ANTIQUA=PURITY OF SOUND!!!



This 5 disc set is a treasure trove of some of the lovliest music of Palestrina that you will ever hear in one Box Set!! CD 1: Missa L'Homme Arme - Missa Assumpta Est Maria.CD2: Lamentations fo Jeremiah the Prophet. CD3: Missa Brevis-Missa Lauda Sion-Super Flumina Babylonis-Sicut Cervus.CD4: Missa Aeterna Christi Munera-Missa L'Homme Arme,4vv. CD5: Missa Papae Marcelli-Stabat Mater.



It is interesting to note that Palestrina wrote in the dedication of his "First Book of Motets" what he considered to be the function of music in the Church: "The function of music in the Church is the seasoning of devotion by the added delight of sweetness of song and variety of harmony." Thus he describes for us all how we should perceive his music. Therefore, the qualities are: purity, clarity,comparative brevity and simplicity, polyphony used with judicious reserve and the banishing of secular elements from his music. And I believe that these five discs all speak to Palestrina's dedication.



Pro Cantione Antiqua of London was founded in the 1960's by tenor James Griffett, countertenor Paul Esswood and conductor/producer Mark Brown. From the beginning they have been closely associated with conductor and musicologist Bruno Turner. The are probably the leading British performing group in a cappella music, especially Early Music, prior to the Tallis Scholars. Though principally an all-male group, they have occasionally supplemented with female voices when appropriate (example: 1978 recording under Phillip Ledger to accompany 'The Oxford Book of English Madrigals).



Pro Cantione Antiqua perform in a strong straightforward style with not too much overpointing. Their delivery is accurate and efficient, always musical and shapely. They are here recorded in suitable acoustic; not too closely miked and the acoustic is not overwhelming but the recording remains atmospheric, giving something of the feel of the church



It is unfortunate that no liner notes are included in this package, but there is a booklet that includes the contents of each, that is the Latin Text and the performers which vary slightly from disc to disc. Mark Brown conducts four of the five discs and Bruno Turner the remaining one. There is an assortment of sixteen singers total, and the number vary from five to to nine per disc. The performers are: C. Brett, T. Penrose, A.Stafford, M. Chance (countertenors) -W. Evans, J.Griffett,I.Partridge,N.Jenkins, Lewington (tenors)- M.George, G.Jones, C. Keyte, S.Roberts, B.Etheridge, A. Peacock, D.Beavan (basses). The sound, however, remained solid and strong and clear, so the slight adjustments in personnel were not detrimental to the overall excellence."