Rating: 4/5
Review:
Good, but a little too restrained
I like this CD, although I don't think it quite conveys the
full impact of the music. Brumel's Missa
Et ecce terrae motus is a work for twelve voices, full of sonority and is a
kind of Renaissance Wall Of Sound, providing a wonderful experience as wave
after wave of sound rolls over you. At
its best it really does feel a bit like a musical representation of an
earthquake.
The Tudor Consort do well with it. They are a New
Zealand ensemble, composed of very good
singers whose technique and intonation is excellent and who engage very well
with the text. My slight reservation is
their…well…reserve at times. There are
some quiet, intimate passages which they do beautifully – sections of the
Gloria, for example, are simply exquisite – but their slightly held-back, very
resonant sound doesn't quite hit the spot in the really thunderous passages
which need to convey the huge forces at work in the Earth, and the
awe-inspiring effect they can have. It's
a difficult balance to strike between just blasting your way through this the
whole time and not quite giving it enough, and for me The Tudor Consort err
just a little too much on the side of restraint.
That said, it's very lovely much of the time and a very good
performance in many ways. I like the two
commissioned pieces which open the disc, from contemporary New
Zealand composers Ross Harris and Jack
Brody, too. Although this won't displace
my much-loved Tallis Scholars recording in my affections, it's a good disc and
well worth seeking out, I think.
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