The Tallis Scholars & Peter Phillips - Requiem (2005)

This two-disc set compiles what England's Tallis Scholars call a "mini-project," a group of several related recordings made at different times (the buyer does not learn exactly when) for the Gimell label. The compilation appeared in 2005. Even with the strong similarities among the three major works involved, the release as a whole makes a lot of sense; you might not want to sit and listen to three substantial requiem masses in a row (plus some motets of a similarly dark hue), but all of them are gorgeous, and all have a great deal to offer the listener who enjoys a cappella sacred polyphony of the late Renaissance. The opening work, and the first recorded in this series by this marvelous mixed-gender adult choir, is the six-part Requiem of Tomas Luis de Victoria, composed in 1603 and one of the undisputed masterpieces of the late Renaissance. This work is justly famous for its fusion of perfect Palestrinian balance in the counterpoint with a sort of sober warmth (the Brahms German Requiem may come to mind) that is Victoria's own, and it is hard to think of a recording that better captures its mood than this one. Yet equally interesting is the chance to see how Victoria's followers dealt with this towering example. The other two requiem masses included, by Duarte Lobo and Manuel Cardoso, come from the pens of Victoria's Portuguese followers. They are obviously inpsired by the Victoria mass, and they follow its general outlines: the careful, slow-moving polyphony; the unique mood; and the extraordinarily intense alternation of plainsong and polyphony in the concluding Responsorium with its dire warnings of judgment. Yet the Cardoso mass, especially, is as interesting for its departures as for the ways in which the composer follows Victoria. Start with the unusual voice deployment: one soprano part, two for alto, two for tenor, and one bass part. This generates a low sound that's dense in the middle, and Cardoso exploits these timbres with various pungent harmonic moves. Cardoso was working almost in the middle of the seventeenth century, and although he was writing here in pure Renaissance style, he was certainly aware of Monteverdi's revolutionary new way of treating what would become known as harmony. Parts of the music sound like passages from a Monteverdian monodic madrigal, fleshed out for full choir and greatly slowed down. It's an intense, rich effect, and it's just one of the many joys of this collection. The music was recorded in two separate churches; Norfolk's Salle Church, used for the Lobo and Cardoso masses, has a sparer ambiance than the Church of St. John at Hackney, London, where the Victoria was recorded. It is ideal for the clarification of the subtle innovations of the two Portuguese composers, and the engineering is superb throughout. Virtually a must-have Renaissance disc. -- James Manheim