Rating: 4/5
Review:
A lovely mass
I like de la Rue’s music very much and the Missa Conceptio tua is a fine work, I think. It is written at very low pitch and the basses of Schola Antiqua of Chicago in particular make a fine, thrilling sound over which the other polyphonic parts weave their magic. I love the effect, and it is worth buying the disc for this mass alone, I think.
The rest of the disc
doesn’t do very much for me. It opens with a sequence of seven
plainchant antiphons sung by a duet of sopranos which, frankly, all
gets a bit much as a chunk and might have been better distributed
among the polyphony. The closing pieces are English mediaeval carols
which to my ears don’t sit well with the rest of the programme.
So, a slightly mixed
disc overall, but the terrific mass setting, very well sung makes it
eminently recommendable.
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