A New Venetian Coronation, 1595
Gabrieli Consort and Players/Paul McCreesh
rec. 28-29 February, 1 March 2012, Douai Abbey, Berkshire, England. DDD
Latin texts and English translations included
Full track-listing at the end of this review
SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD287 [73:55]
“You cannot avoid thinking of Venice other than in glorious technicolour
- burgundies, mustards, ochres and brilliant azures.”
Thus Paul McCreesh in an illuminating interview with Catherine Bott that forms
part of the booklet for this new release.
How many collectors acquired, as I did, McCreesh’s 1989 Virgin Classics
disc, A New Venetian Coronation, 1595? That was a ground-breaking recording
in that, so far as I know, it was one of the first - if not the first
- to present pre-classical sacred music in the format of a speculative liturgical
reconstruction. The intention was to present the music as it might have been
done at the Coronation of Doge Marino Grimani (1532-1605) in St Mark’s
basilica on 27 April 1595. Paul McCreesh readily admits that his reconstruction
is “completely speculative” - there are no records that show exactly
what form the order of service took. McCreesh went on to make several more
such discs, among which my own favourite is the marvellous Lutheran Mass
for Christmas Morning (review).
The Venetian Coronation programme has remained in the Gabrieli’s repertoire
over the years and, over time, has been adapted and modified. Now, to mark
the thirtieth anniversary of the Gabrieli’s, which he founded in 1982,
McCreesh has set down on disc his current version of the programme.
In 1595 Giovanni Gabrieli was one of the organists at St Mark’s and
McCreesh makes his music and that of his uncle, Andrea Gabrieli - a former
organist at the basilica - the backbone of his programme. In many ways the
musical content remains the same as in 1989 and in the track listing I’ve
marked with an asterisk the pieces that are common to both discs. However,
even where the music is the same there are some important differences. For
example, Giovanni Gabrieli’s Deus qui Beatum Marcum à10
was performed chorally - or at least by a small consort of voices - in 1989.
For the 2012 incarnation McCreesh uses a pair of solo falsettists, accompanied
by a wonderfully gruff octet of sackbuts. The piece takes on an entirely different
character: in 1989 we heard it as a forthright, public piece; in 2012 it sounds
much more intimate. That’s even more the case with Andrea Gabrieli’s
O sacrum convivium à 5. The consort version heard in 1989 is
lovely but now it’s sung by five solo voices and this way of performing
the piece imparts a haunting intimacy to it. McCreesh makes the telling point
to Catherine Bott that the Coronation Mass itself was probably quite a closed
affair, just for the top people in Venetian society, although the crowd at
least got to see an elaborate pre-Mss procession through the streets. The
contrast with Lutheran Germany, where the congregational hymns were so important
in worship and, as such, became a fantastic feature of Lutheran Mass for
Christmas Morning, is telling.
Mention of the pre-Mass procession brings me to the biggest change from the
1989 CD. That began with a brief track (0:50) in which bells were heard. The
opening to the 2012 production is much more elaborate. We hear the bells,
to be sure, but during the first track, which lasts 8:20, we hear bells more
than once. Moreover there are several pieces of processional music and everything
is heard against a busy background of street noises, including the chatter
of people and even fireworks. A vivid aural picture is created of the Doge’s
procession making its way to St. Mark’s basilica through excited, thronged
streets. Some may think it’s contrived: I think it’s great!
The music on the disc is a mixture of vocal pieces composed by the Gabrieli’s,
chant, trumpet fanfares and short organ pieces. The standard of performance
is tremendously high. The Kyrie, for example, comprises three movements by
Andrea Gabrieli, all requiring different forces. All three pieces have a solemn
grandeur, not least the first Kyrie for solo high tenor and sackbuts. Andrea
Gabrieli’s Gloria à 16 is majestic. The Venetians thought nothing
of replacing parts of the mass with music for better effect and so, for instance,
in this reconstruction the chanting of the Gradual gives way to a rather splendid
12-part instrumental canzona by Giovanni Gabrieli. His uncle’s music
furnishes the Sanctus and Benedictus. The music for this is in twelve parts
and it’s magnificent and complex. Here, it’s thrillingly recorded
as well as thrillingly performed and the listener is given a real sense of
the use of spatial effects. Giovanni Gabrieli has the last word: his Omnes
gentes à16 provides a richly festive conclusion to the liturgy
- both the music and the performance of it are full of exuberance and vitality.
Nicholas Parker, who produced the 1989 recording in Brinkburn Priory, Northumberland
does the honours for this recording also. He and engineer Neil Hutchinson
have done a superb job in figuratively transporting Douai Abbey to the Piazza
San Marco. The sound is splendid, as is the documentation. This project offers
an exhilarating and stimulating way to experience the musical glories of Renaissance
Venice but it’s far from a Disney-fication of the music. The performances
here are the product of considerable scholarship. However, the scholarship
is worn lightly. There’s a tremendous vitality and joyfulness to the
proceedings. Though a fair bit of music is reprised from the 1989 recording
it’s well worth the duplication to hear Paul McCreesh’s current
take on the music; there are differences.
Buy this disc and you’ll experience Renaissance Venice in the aural
equivalent of “glorious technicolour”.
John Quinn
An exhilarating and stimulating way to experience the musical glories of Renaissance
Venice.
see also reviews by Mark
Sealey and Johan
van Veen
Track listing (* denotes music included in the 1989 recording)
The Procession [8:20]
Bells
Hans Leo HASSLER (1564-1612)
Intrada Tertia/Sexta/Septima
Cesare BENDINELLI (c. 1542-1617)
Trumpet Sonata No. 333*
The Mass
Giovanni GABRIELI (c. 1554/57 -1612)
Toccata Secundo Tono [2:02]
Introit [4:24]
Cesare BENDINELLI
Toccata 26 [1:01]
Giovanni GABRIELI
Intonazione Primo Tono [0:30]
Andrea GABRIELI (c. 1520-1586)
Kyrie à 5* [1:59]
Christe à 8* [2:13]
Kyrie à 12* [3:29]
Gloria à16* [5:02]
Collect [1:23]
Epistle [1:05]
Giovanni GABRIELI
Canzona à12 [2:48]
Gospel [2:03]
Andrea GABRIELI Intonazione Settimo Tono* [1:14]
Giovanni GABRIELI Deus qui Beatum Marcum à 10* [2:51]
Preface [3:06]
Andrea GABRIELI Sanctus and Benedictus à 12* [3:40]
Cesare BENDINELLI Sarasinetta 2 [1:01]
Giovanni GABRIELI Canzona à 15 [4:34]
Pater Noster [2:02]
Agnus Dei [1:25]
Giovanni GABRIELI Intonazione Quinto Tono alla Quarta Bassa* [[0:42]
Andrea GABRIELI O sacrum convivium à 5*[3:59]
Giovanni GABRIELI Canzona à 10 [4:23]
Post Communion Prayer [1:58]
Cesare GUSSAGO (fl c1599-1612) Sonata La Leone [2:15]
Giovanni GABRIELI Omnes gentes à 16* [4:26]