MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


 REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
CD: Crotchet AmazonUK AmazonUS


Francisco de PEÑALOSA (c.1470-1528)
The Complete Motets
Inter vestibulum et altare [2:38]
Tribularer, si nescirem [2:58]
Ne reminiscaris, Domine [2:01]
Versa est in luctum [2:55]
Domine, secundum actum meum [2:24]
Adoro te, Domine Jesu Christe [2:11]
Ave verum corpus [2:41]
Nigra sum, sed formosa [2:40]
Sancta Maria [2:33]
Unica est columba mea [2:26]
Ave, vera caro Christi [3:24]
Ave, vere sanguis Domini [2:33]
In passione positus [3:33]
Precor te, Domine Jesu Christe [3:42]
Pater noster [3:11]
Ave regina cælorum [4:09]
Sancta mater istud agas [3:00]
O Domina sanctissima [3:53]
Emendemus in melius [2:37]
Deus, qui manus tuas [4:16]
Domine Jesu Christe, qui neminem [2:46]
Transeunte Domino Jesu [3:08]
Pro Cantione Antiqua/Bruno Turner
rec. 9-11 October 1991. Venue not stated. DDD.
Texts and translations included. From CDA66574
HYPERION HELIOS CDH55357 [67:53]
Experience Classicsonline

As so often, I’m not sure whether to be more amazed that I let so many excellent Hyperion recordings pass me by when they were first issued or that they are now on offer so inexpensively. Having missed out on the review copy of this CD, I purchased it online for significantly less than £6, including post and packing.

I’m particularly surprised that I missed this Peñalosa CD; it’s not as if the reviews of the original release weren’t very favourable; Pro Cantione Antiqua had already produced some excellent recordings of renaissance and baroque music and recordings of Peñalosa’s music, then as now, weren’t exactly thick on the ground.

There’s a rival recording of Sancta Maria on a Gothic Voices CD from 1993, The Voice in the Garden, also recently reissued on the Helios label (CDH55298 - see my review and review by Robert Hugill) and one of Sancta Mater on another Helios CD, Sacred and Secular Music from Six Centuries (Hilliard Ensemble, CDH55148). The only recording completely devoted to Peñalosa also comes from Hyperion, at full price: the Masses Ave Maria, peregrina and Nunca fue peña mayor, with Sacris solemniis (Westminster Cathedral, CDA66629, Archive service only, though some online dealers still seem to have copies).

That a composer of Peñalosa’s stature should be so under-represented is a great shame. I can’t argue with Bruno Turner’s assertion in the notes that he was ‘Spain’s greatest composer of sacred music around 1500.’ After all, many of his contemporaries regarded him as the Iberian equivalent of Josquin; perhaps The Tallis Scholars would consider slotting a recording of Peñalosa into their current run of Josquin recordings.

Don’t expect too much drama. Even the setting of the crucifixion motets In passion positus Jesus (tr.13) and Deus, qui manus tuas ... in lingo crucis posuisti (tr.20) are beautiful but a little unimpassioned. Nor should you expect the light and delicate setting of words from the Song of Songs, Nigra sum, sed formosa (tr.8) to match what Monteverdi makes of them, or the plain chordal setting of Ave verum corpus (tr.7) to equal the intensity of the more famous settings by Byrd and Mozart.

On the other hand, though there are several penitential texts in the programme, from the very first track, Inter vestibulum et altare, a text associated with Ash Wednesday, neither the music nor the performance is lugubrious. The music on this reissue may be a little unvaried by comparison with a recording of settings of the mass, but that’s the only criticism that I can make - and it’s been anticipated in Bruno Turner’s notes, where he advises against listening to all 22 tracks at once. The more adventurous may consider ripping the tracks to a hard drive recorder and making their own programme, combining the motets with other renaissance polyphonic music. Turner notes the similarity of some of Peñalosa’s music to that of the English composers of the period, so a programme interspersing some of these motets with music from the Eton Choirbook might be interesting.

If the music is a little unvaried, it’s all of a very high standard - perfect late-night listening - and the performances are excellent. It’s almost impossible to single out a particular motet, but it’s possible to sample them all and download the booklet of notes on the Hyperion website.

Some of the members of Pro Cantione Antiqua had been around for a while in 1991, but their singing is none the worse for that. Others, like Michael Chance and Michael George, would go on to make many more distinguished recordings for Hyperion and others.

The booklet is a straight reissue of the full-price original. Bruno Turner’s notes are a little shorter than those in some Hyperion booklets, but they are more than adequate. At least it’s possible to get the booklet back into the case; some Hyperion booklets are so full that they are hard to reinsert without tearing. The translations are idiomatic, though they make a strange blend of traditional biblical (‘what will you have me do unto you?’) and modern language. ‘Lord Jesus Christ, who wishes none to perish’ (Domine Jesu Christe, qui neminem vis perire) falls awkwardly between the traditional (‘who wishest’) and the preferred form in modern Roman Catholic and Anglican translations, ‘you wish’. (But, then, the author of the prayer broke the rule that was hammered into me, never to use the oblique cases of nemo, but to use nullius, etc.: ‘never, never let me say neminis and nemine’.)

Several other recordings by Pro Cantione Antiqua, mostly directed by Brunto Turner, are well worth considering, some of them even less expensive than this Helios reissue:
•  Tears and Lamentations (early and late Tudor music, Regis RRC1259);
•  Byrd Four-part Mass, etc (Regis RRC1226);
•  Lassus Lamentations (Regis RRC1123 - see review; or RRC4002 - see review);
•  Lassus Music for Easter; Requiem (Regis RRC1124 - see review);
•  Palestrina Lamentations (Regis RRC1038);
•  Palestrina Song of Songs (Hyperion Helios CDH55095);
•  Palestrina Missa Papæ Marcelli, etc. (Regis RRC1025 or Brilliant Classics 99711) ;
•  Schütz Motets (Regis RRC1168 - see review)
•  Medieval Christmas (Alto ALC1004)
•  Allegri Miserere, etc (Regis RRC1065 - see review)

The Regis CDs originate from ASV originals, the Alto from an IMP release; both series are at super-budget price. Some or all of the recordings on this list plus, of course, the new Helios reissue, could form the inexpensive basis of a really fine collection of renaissance and baroque music. I can vouch personally for most of the earlier incarnations of those covered by Musicweb reviews, and for all those which haven’t received Musicweb reviews.

But above all, buy this Peñalosa reissue. If enough of us do so, maybe Hyperion will be encouraged to bring their other Peñalosa recording out of retirement and reissue it, too, on the Helios label. Keep an eye, too, on the Hyperion website for half-price offers of CDs which have not been purchased for some time; in recent weeks some very highly thought of recordings have been on offer; don’t let this Peñalosa reissue find its way there.

Brian Wilson 

 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.