Search - Tomas Luis de Victoria, Harry Christopher, The Sixteen :: Victoria, Vol. 1: Devotion to Our Lady

The famous Requiem and Tenebrae Responsories of Tomás Luis de Victoria have so dominated modern perceptions of his music that it has developed a reputation for being entirely gloomy and depressing. In fact, Victoria's contemporaries viewed his music as essentially joyful. Harry Christophers and the Sixteen have begun a multivolume set of Victoria's works that should help dispel the myth of the morose Spanish Catholic composer. This disc, volume 1 of the series, features double-choir works such as the Salve Regina and the Mass based on it, loaded with antiphonal effects and luscious full chords. The joyful Easter text "Regina c?li lætare" receives an almost boisterous treatment, the beloved hymn "Ave maris stella" a gentle and luminous setting. --Matthew Westphal