I’m not usually one to ascribe character traits to inanimate
objects, but if there was ever a CD which lacked self-confidence,
then this is the one. What we have is a now quite frequently
used and useful idea of placing ancient pieces against contemporary
ones for the same ensemble, in this case Palestrina’s
Missa Papae Marcelli performed with four of Arvo Pärt’s
choral works. In a piece of programming which seems to back-track
on the courage of its convictions, we then have the Palestrina
mass again, but without the Pärt. Imagine being in a posh
restaurant, ordering some kind of cooked cheese dish, and having
it served along with a big block of the raw cheese on its own.
What does that say? If you don’t like the expert cooking,
you can at least have one of the original ingredients - admire
the art of the elder craftsman, just in case - you know... This
is an apology rather than an inspiration - people, come on!
I don’t want to bang on about this too long on what is
after all a very nicely recorded and superbly performed programme.
There are some subtle differences in timings with the movements
of the mass which I’ve listed above, but even of these
are alternative takes the performances are in essence the same.
In these days of rippable tracks and programmable CD players
this just seems to be the kind of weak and misguided concept
which will prevent people from shelling out on this disc in
the shops.
The Nederlands Kamerkoor is one of, if not, the top vocal ensemble
in The Netherlands, and as one would expect, their performances
here are pretty superlative. The Arvo Pärt works have been
recorded before, and those of us who know and love the rich
performances by the Theatre of Voices/Pro Arte Singers with
Paul Hillier on Harmonia Mundi will probably not be on the prowl
for alternatives, though in this case they will be missing the
beautiful Most Holy Mother of God. Stephen Layton’s
marvellous ‘Triodion’ choral disc on Hyperion also
has I am the True Vine, but would otherwise compliment
this Globe selection nicely. There is also a very nicely performed
Naxos disc with Elora Festival Singers conducted by Noel Edison,
which is impressive, but with a slightly fluffy sameness throughout
the repertoire. The Nederlands Kamerkoor is generally crisper
in sound and more intimate by comparison with these examples,
but with 20 singers they still have a convincingly homogenous
choral sound, and their enunciation of text is very good indeed.
Estonian conductor Risto Joost has Pärt’s music as
part of his performing DNA, and the performances of his countryman’s
music on this disc are superbly proficient. He doesn’t
pack them with much extra spiritual aura: “The Word is
more important than the music” is the quote from the composer
which is chosen to sum up the pieces in the booklet - which
by the way does include all of the sung texts in print. His
directness of expression in each of these pieces has them come
across as objects of timeless and personal devotion rather than
for the elevation of some abstract divinity. Tribute to Caesar
is given a very special atmosphere in this recording, and is
the one to sample should you have the chance.
This way of writing for religious texts is well paired with
Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli, which the composer
is famously reputed to have created to prove to his papal patrons
that polyphonic composing and the comprehension of the texts
of the mass could go hand in hand. Once again, Joost’s
directorship generates this feeling of direct communication
without artificial sentiment, phrasing with utmost clarity and
allowing the lines of counterpoint and confluences of harmony
to form very naturally, and with the utmost sensitivity. One
has the feeling that he trusts his singers implicitly, providing
the very minimum of shaping and guidance, creating the ideal
balance from the central conductors position but placing very
little extra emphasis, allowing the music and the musicians
to speak for themselves. This might be a hard-won illusion but
I doubt it, and either way the work has paid off very nicely
indeed. There are of course many marvellous recordings of this
piece around, and I’m still very attached to the Tallis
Scholars on Gimell GDGIM339 though the timings are consistently
a good few minutes longer in what by comparison sounds overly
expansive and perhaps even a little old-fashioned by comparison
with the Nederlands Kamerkoor. There are plenty of versions
which fall somewhere in between, but few if any which beat this
recording for clarity.
Having completed the cycle of Palestrina/Pärt, we start
all over again with the Kyrie of the mass. Why? I’m
sure someone else in the entire history of music wrote some
other choral pieces, somewhere, surely....?
Dominy Clements
Track listing
Palestrina - Kyrie [4:11]
Pärt - The Woman with the Alabaster Box (1997) [5:48]
Palestrina - Gloria [4:41]
Pärt - Tribute to Caesar (1997) [6:21]
Palestrina - Credo [7:29]
Pärt - I am the True Vine (1996) [5:48]
Palestrina - Sanctus/Benedictus [5:48]
Pärt - Most Holy Mother of God (2003) [5:06]
Palestrina - Agnus Dei I and II [6:05]
Palestrina - Missa Papae Marcelli [Integral]
Kyrie [4:08]
Gloria [4:39]
Credo [7:27]
Sanctus/Benedictus [5:47]
Agnus Dei I and II [6:05]
Nederlands Kamerkoor/Risto Joost 
