Tomás Luis de VICTORIA (1548-1611)
Te Deum laudamus [8:13]
Giovanni Pierluigi da PALESTRINA (1525/6-1594)
Missa Te Deum laudamus [32:47]
Tu es Petrus a 6 [7:01]
Missa Tu es Petrus [29:33]
The Choir of Westminster Cathedral/Martin Baker (Master of Music)
rec. Westminster Cathedral, 2, 3, 9, 10 March 2009. DDD
HYPERION CDA67785 [77:49]
The Westminster Cathedral Choir take a wall-of-sound approach to Palestrina.
They field around 40 singers and the microphones are set well back in order
to homogenise the image and take advantage of the Cathedral’s long yet magnificently
even reverberation.
Unfortunately, this recording fails to be more than the sum of these impressive
parts. Listening to the two Palestrina masses, you really get the feeling
that this music is bread and butter to the singers, core repertoire that they
perform on a very regular basis. But has complacency crept in? The intonation
and passage-work are often approximate at best. The boys are more to blame
than the men, I think, although every voice group has their moments.
Or perhaps I just don’t share the choir’s artistic values. The recording conforms
to a solid tradition of liturgical singing, where bigger is better and the
superiority of boy’s voices in the upper parts is unquestioned. These days
CD buyers have a wide choice, although plenty remain loyal to Martin Baker
and his cathedral forces. Precision is always going to be at a premium with
a choir of this size, just as clarity is going to diminish with the homogenisation
of the recorded sound. Even so, this is music that relies on the contrapuntal
interplay of voices for its structure and progression.
One advantage of the choir’s liturgical context is the emphasis that they
place on the articulation of the words. This is a value they share with Palestrina
himself, and in the quieter openings in particular, the music is carried through
the sheer power of diction. Credit too for the choir’s stamina, the musical
problems I mentioned do not increase as movements progress.
And what fascinating repertoire. The two masses, Missa Te Deum laudamus
and Missa Tu es Petrus - the latter the justification for the Rubens
on the cover - are Palestrina at his level best. The former is set in the
Phrygian mode, giving a plaintive shading even to the most opulent passages.
Missa Tue es Petrus was only published in 1887, a victim, perhaps of
the quantity of Palestrina’s output. It is a parody mass based on the composer’s
motet of the same name, which is also included.
A four voice Te Deum by Victoria opens the programme. It is rhythmically more
interesting than the Palestrina that follows, more structurally varied too,
alternating plainchant with homophonic choral writing. By avoiding Victoria’s
polyphonic works - many of which are magnificent - the disc does him the favour
of not setting him in direct comparison with Palestrina. He would struggle
to win that one.
All in all, though, this disc is a disappointment. It is strictly for those
who have a preference for large choirs, boys’ voices, opulent acoustics, slow
tempi ... dare I say it, old-fashioned Palestrina. But even they are likely
to be disappointed by the intonation and many moments of weakness in the upper
lines. The Westminster Cathedral Choir is one of this country’s great musical
institutions, and their recording catalogue includes many, many recordings
that are better than this.
Gavin Dixon
Brian Wilson was more encouraging in his April Dowload
review
A disappointment. It is strictly for those who prefer old-fashioned Palestrina
... see Full Review