Beatus Vir
Recorded live on their 1999 European tour, the Choir of Ormond College under Douglas Lawrence presents small-scale sacred works in up to eight parts by Palestrina, Gesualdo, Handl, Gabrieli, Monteverdi, Stanford and Rheinberger.
Carlo Gesualdo composer
Jacob Handl composer
Claudio Monteverdi composer
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina composer
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger composer
Charles Villiers Stanford composer
Speak of choral music and the mind often turns first to masses, requiems and works with orchestra. Much of the repertoire, though, was written for Sunday liturgy and the modest forces of a church choir.
This disc gathers some of the finest small-scale pieces for choir: eight-part writing by Jacob Handl, Palestrina and Gabrieli, with further sacred works by Gesualdo, Monteverdi, Stanford and Rheinberger.
The performances were captured live during the choir’s 1999 European tour, chiefly in the fifteenth-century church of Santa Maria in Bressanoro near Cremona, with Monteverdi’s Beatus vir recorded in St Martin’s, Wangen, beside Lake Constance.
The fifteenth-century church of Santa Maria in Bressanoro sits in majestic solitude in the midst of farmland on the outskirts of Castelleone, near Cremona. Here on 22 and 23 July 1999 the Choir recorded most of the music on this disc. Beatus vir was recorded in St Martin’s Church in Wangen, near Lake Constance in southern Germany, which houses a fine Rieger organ.
Reviews
beautifully sung, as one would expect from this excellent ensemble ... a fine, and useful, CD which I am happy to recommend
... a technical tour-de-force, which the young voices dispatch with aplomb ... the disc shows off the considerable ability and youthful enthusiasm of the group to advantage.
splendid
fine singing ... enhanced by the warm acoustic of the church
A bewitchingly rich sound unfolded as the choir made its way through the break-neck harmonic progressions of Gesualdo’s O vos omnes with precise intonation and extraordinary security.
the incredible professional discipline and the rich sound was most impressive … swept the audience away. Rhythmically driving, slowly unfolding, the Stanford works had a life and energy to which the singers applied their full talents – the effect and radiance was in places breathtaking.
Artists
The Choir of Ormond College
The Choir of Ormond College has, since its founding in 1982 under Douglas Lawrence, become the first Australian choir to earn ongoing international recognition for its concert and recorded work.
Douglas Lawrence
Melbourne organist Douglas Lawrence is Director of Music at The Scots' Church and Teacher of the Organ at the University of Melbourne. He founded the Choir of Ormond College and directed it from 1982 to 2006.
Audio preview
Tracks
- Stabat Mater Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina 7:34
- Sicut cervus Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina 3:04
- Tu es Petrus Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina 7:04
- O vos omnes Carlo Gesualdo 3:22
- Pater noster Jacob Handl 3:54
- Jubilate Deo Giovanni Gabrieli 4:48
- Cantate Domino Claudio Monteverdi 2:13
- Beatus vir Claudio Monteverdi 8:45
- Justorum animae 3:06
- Coelos ascendit hodie 1:52
- Beati quorum via 3:49
- Abendlied, Op. 69, No. 3 Josef Gabriel Rheinberger 2:46
Three Motets, Op. 38 Charles Villiers Stanford
Performers
- The Choir of Ormond College
- Douglas Lawrence · director
- Elizabeth Anderson · track 8
Composers
Giovanni Gabrieli
Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1554/1557–1612) was a Venetian composer and organist of the late Renaissance, a central figure of the Venetian School at the turn toward early Baroque sacred and instrumental music.
Claudio Monteverdi
Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player, and a crucial figure between the Renaissance and Baroque. A pioneer of opera and of the expressive seconda pratica, he left madrigals, major sacred works and three surviving operas still central to the repertory.
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Palestrina's sacred polyphony balances proportion and serenity with crystalline text. His masses and motets move in smooth, carefully controlled lines where dissonance yields to consonance and every voice serves the liturgy.
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger composed sacred choral works and a large organ repertoire. His music joins Romantic warmth with clear counterpoint, from the motet Abendlied to sonatas and intermezzos for the instrument.
Charles Villiers Stanford
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, teacher and conductor of the late Romantic era. His choral music for the Anglican tradition remains the work for which he is best remembered.
Jacob Handl
Jacob Handl (1550–1591), also known as Jacobus Gallus, was a late-Renaissance composer whose sacred output runs to hundreds of works, from intimate motets to large polychoral writing.
Where to listen
Beatus Vir is available for streaming through Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
Beatus Vir is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- MD 3220
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 52 minutes 17 seconds
- Recording Engineer
- Martin Wright
- Editing Engineer
- Vaughan McAlley
- Release date
- 2000
- Musical work
copyright - © 2000 Move Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 2000 Move Records
- Categories
- Baroque, Choral, Early music
- Genres
- Choral & Sacred, Early Music, Baroque
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574322026
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