Rating: 4/5
Review:
A very good reconstruction
This is a good recording by Westminster Cathedral. It is not by the usual full choir but just
the Lay Clerks, so the all-male ensemble lends the music a depth of sound which
may be unfamiliar but which I like very much.
The music is a full choral and instrumental reconstruction
of a mass for the Feast Of The Assumption (15th August) based on the
choral music of Victoria and the
instrumental music of Frescobaldi. It is
a major undertaking and they succeed very well, I think. The sequence of polyphony, chant and
instrumental music is performed with skill and feeling, giving a strong
atmosphere and sense of worship. The
singing is of a particularly high standard, I think - unsurprisingly from
Westminster Cathedral, who have been making fine recordings of Victoria's
masses for many years now.
If you enjoy this sort of reconstruction, don't hesitate –
the music is wonderful and very well performed, and Hyperion's recorded sound
is excellent as usual. Personally, I'm
less keen on full reconstructions than on just sequences of polyphony (with or
without chant), but that's just my personal taste and the reason for a four-star
rather than five-star review, but for what it is, it's excellent.
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