Tomás Luis de VICTORIA (1548-1611)
Lectio secunda ad matutinum [3:21]
Missa pro defunctis [24:53]
Motectum: Versa est in luctum [3:11]
Absolutio: Libra me [7:48]
O Domine Iesu Christe [2:30]
Domine, non sum dignus [2:44]
Salve Regina [7:15]
Vadam et circubio civitatem [7:05]
Collegium Vocale Ghent/Philippe Herreweghe
rec. no details supplied
PHI 005 [59:40]
Philippe Herreweghe doesn’t often venture into the Renaissance repertoire
these days. That’s a great shame as he evidently has a natural affinity
for this music. He also has a choir with the rare ability to combine grace
with conviction, and to articulate with the utmost clarity, yet without ever
disturbing the flow. The result here is a Victoria recording as fine as any,
and one that makes the very best use of modern recording technology to capture
both the detail and the atmosphere of these excellent performances.
The central work on the programme is Victoria’s Officium
Defunctorum, a Requiem setting from the days before the genre was firmly
established under that name. The opening track, Lectio secunda ad matutinm,
is taken from the same 1605 publication as the mass, and serves here as a
prelude. It’s not very exciting, a simple homophonic setting, which
demonstrates the precision of the choir’s ensemble, but doesn’t
give much of an idea of what is to follow. When the mass itself begins in
the second track, we are transported into another world, with Victoria’s
contrapuntal intricacies surrounding us in the expansive stereo soundscape.
The choir is actually relatively small, never larger than 12 singers, as is
the venue. The singers’ projection, and the accuracy of their tuning
and ensemble, ensure an attractively round and warm sound for all of Victoria’s
textures. The choir is mixed, with female sopranos and counter-tenors on the
alto lines. That does feel like a little bit of a compromise, although it
is hardly unusual. Two sopranos sing the plainchant introductions and occasionally
sound strained, at least in comparison with the tuttis that follow.
Herreweghe uses gradual increments in the dynamics to shape both the phrases
and, to a certain extent, the movements too. That’s on top of variable
dynamics within the ensemble to bring out the middle and lower parts. No doubt
that is a tricky juggling act, but it never feels contrived. Neither do the
tempos, which are occasionally brisk, but never excessively so.
The programme concludes with four of Victoria’s Motets. As the liner-note
points out, Victoria’s reputation is based largely on his funereal music,
so it is no bad thing to redress the balance with some of his more upbeat
works. These Motets aren’t exactly joyous, but the mixed emotions that
they express do at least move the music out of the gloom (glorious as it is)
that most of us consider typical Victoria. Like the mass, most of these motets
are in six parts, and they are of a similar level of density and complexity.
Unlike in the mass, the counterpoint here is not based on fixed patterns from
plainchant, allowing Victoria a great deal more flexibility in his melodic
contours.
There is always a danger with Renaissance polyphony that it all blends into
one, but the coupling on this disc makes the contrasts between the different
aspects of Victoria’s work as explicit as possible. The clarity of the
sung texts also helps remind even the most casual listener of the music’s
original context.
I have recently been listening to recordings of Victoria from the Tallis Scholars
and the Choir of Westminster Cathedral. This recording sits somewhere between
those two poles, but draws on the best of both. It has all the atmosphere
and depth of tone that the Westminster choristers can produce, but it also
has the clarity of line and word that we hear from the Tallis Scholars. Even
though Herreweghe and his choir don’t go to either of these extremes,
they still give a distinctive interpretation that’s as good as any of
their rivals.
Gavin Dixon
A distinctive interpretation that’s as good as any of the rivals.