Some movies are so popular that after some years they get a
'remake'. The present disc is also a kind of 'remake'. In July
1989 Paul McCreesh recorded a 'Venetian Coronation Mass' as
it could have been celebrated in 1595 at the occasion of the
appointment of Marino Grimani as the new Doge. Issued by Virgin
Classics, it became one of the most popular recordings by the
Gabrieli Consort and Players. It was also a kind of showpiece
of the ensemble as it featured a liturgical 'reconstruction'
which was to become one of its hallmarks. Nearly 25 years after
that recording McCreesh thought the time had come to make a
new recording. Some of the pieces in the first recording were
replaced, but most differences concern performance practice.
The booklet includes an interview with McCreesh by Catherine
Bott, and it is useful to read this before listening. Here McCreesh
explains various aspects of the performance some of which immediately
catch the ear.
One of these is that the music sounds much more intimate than
one would probably expect, considering that the coronation mass
was a major event and the music had to reflect the splendour
of which Venice was so proud. One is inclined to attribute this
to the venue in which this recording was made, which obviously
is very different from St Mark's. McCreesh states that "the
music of San Marco is essentially chamber music that was mainly
intended for the delight of the Doge and his invited guests,
seated in the choir area. There is grandeur in the music but
the relative delicacy of cornetts, sackbuts and old violins
- as opposed to a modern symphonic brass ensemble - demands
a subtler approach, which I hope comes across on the recording".
It certainly does: if you expect large eruptions of sound you
will be disappointed. McCreesh is very selective in the scoring
of the various pieces. For instance, in the Kyrie à 5
and the Christe à 8 we only hear one or two singers with
instruments. Generally McCreesh opted for a performance with
one voice per part. "Over the years I have come to believe that
one to a part singing was very common in major cathedrals: certainly
Andrea Gabrieli's O sacrum convivium gains a marvellous
intimacy performed in this way". It is one of the highlights
of this disc, and the performance does full justice to the character
of its lyrics. Giovanni Gabrieli's setting of Psalm 47, Omnes
gentes plaudite manibus, which closes the programme, requires
a much more extroverted interpretation, and here we hear all
voices and a battery of instruments. It is a shame, by the way,
that the booklet doesn't give the scoring of every single piece.
McCreesh's statement that the music was largely performed in
the church's choir could also explain that polychoral pieces
could be performed without being drowned in the large reverberation
of St Mark's. That certainly doesn't happen here, which is not
only due to the interpretation but also to the recording technique.
Recording this kind of repertoire is anything but easy, and
the technical staff deserve accolades for their splendid work.
I referred to this recording as a 'reconstruction'. The quotation
marks are justified, because - as McCreesh admits - the programme
is "completely speculative". The structure of the liturgy and
the kind of music which was available at the time is known.
McCreesh’s aim was to bring them together in a way which
made sense. He explains his motivation for performing such 'reconstructions'.
"The liturgy itself, and the way it has developed over many
centuries, is an interesting and beautiful art form: to employ
the structure of the liturgy immediately lends the programme
a natural shape and form". The programme as it stands may be
speculative, but the many short pieces which are included make
much more sense than when they are recorded independently. The
intonazioni by Giovanni Gabrieli, for instance, were
meant to set the tone for a vocal item. It makes little sense
to play them without the proper context, also because of their
very short length. Let us not forget that most music of that
time was composed for a specific occasion, such as the liturgy
or for special celebrations. The trumpet pieces by Cesare Bendinelli
are from a tutor which has been preserved in manuscript. So
this is in fact practice material. It wasn't likely that it
would ever appear on disc, but here these pieces make perfect
sense. As no Venetian trumpet music has come down to us, they
seem to suit the occasion and they are probably not very different
from the kind of music which was played in Venice on special
occasions like this coronation mass.
Paul McCreesh and his colleagues have done a splendid job by
putting together this programme which gives a good insight into
the way the various compositions were used. Here the music is
restored to the kind of context for which it was created. The
splendour of Venice and its liturgical events come better to
the fore here than in recordings in which individual pieces
are played one after the other. We have to be realistic: you
can't always perform music as part of a 'reconstruction' as
on this disc. Therefore a project like this can help better
appreciate other recordings of music by, for instance, the Gabrielis.
As McCreesh says, it is today much easier to bring together
a group of people who master the often hard-to-play instruments
like the cornett and the sackbut. The way they are played here
is impressive. The singers are stylistically convincing, also
in the plainchant which is taken from Venetian sources of the
16th century. In the pieces with a couple of voices and a larger
ensemble of instruments the balance is very good: the voices
can be clearly heard. They are not treated as 'soloists'; rather
as part of the ensemble.
To sum up: this is a fascinating and musically captivating aural
journey to a city whose splendour was impressively illustrated
by the splendour of its music.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
Track listing
[The Procession]
Bells/
Hans-Leo HASSLER (1564-1612)
Intrada tertia/sexta/septima (1601)/
Cesare BENDINELLI (?-1617)
Trumpet Sonata No. 333 (1614) [8:20]
[The Mass]
Giovanni GABRIELI (1554/57-1612)
Toccata 2. tono (1593) [2:02]
[Introit]
plainchant
Benedicta sit sancta Trinitas [4:24]
[Arrival of the Doge]
Cesare BENDINELLI
Toccata 26 (1614) [1:01]
Giovanni GABRIELI
Intonazione 1. tono (1593) [0:30]
Andrea GABRIELI (1532/33-1585)
Kyrie à 5 (1587) [1:59]
Christe à 8 (1587) [2:13]
Kyrie à 12 (1587) [3:29]
Gloria à 16 (1587) [5:02]
[Collect] [1:23]
[Epistle] [1:05]
[Gradual]
Giovanni GABRIELI
Canzona XIII à 12 (1597) [2:48]
[Gospel] [2:03]
Andrea GABRIELI
Intonazione 7. tono (1593) [1:14]
[Offertory]
Giovanni GABRIELI
Deus qui beatum Marcum à 10 (1597) [2:51]
[Preface] [3:06]
Andrea GABRIELI
Sanctus and Benedictus à 12 (1587) [3:40]
[Elevation]
Cesare BENDINELLI
Sarasinetta 2 (1614) [1:01]
Giovanni GABRIELI
Canzona XVI à 15 (1597) [4:34]
plainchant
Pater noster [2:02]
Agnus Dei [1:25]
Giovanni GABRIELI
Intonazione 5. tono alla quarta bassa (1593) [0:42]
[Communion]
Andrea GABRIELI
O sacrum convivium à 5 (1565) [3:59]
Giovanni GABRIELI
Canzona IX à 10 (1597) [4:23]
[Post Communon Prayer] [1:58]
Cesario GUSSAGO (fl c1599-1612)
Sonata La Leona (1608) [2:15]
Giovanni GABRIELI
Omnes gentes à 16 (1597) [4:26]
Gabrieli Consort and Players/Paul McCreesh 