Issued in late 2012, this disc celebrated several anniversaries.
Primarily it marked the 400th anniversary of the
death of Giovanni Gabrieli. However, in 2012 both of the participating
instrumental ensembles passed important milestones; His Majestys
Sagbutts and Cornetts and Concerto Palatino were respectively
30 and 25 years old. This occasioned an invitation from Jeffrey
Skidmore for these two ensembles of cornett and sackbutt players
to join a hand- picked group of ten singers from the Ex Cathedra
Consort in recording a tribute to Gabrieli.
The programme features pieces taken from his two published sets
of Sacrae symphoniae, the first of which was published
in 1597 while the second was issued posthumously in 1615.The
one exception is Exultet iam angelica turba. A fourteen-part
version of this piece was included in the 1615 volume but what
is recorded here is a version that adds a fourth choir - three
extra parts - and which exists only in a manuscript, which is
to be found in Kassel, Germany.
Expertly recorded by producer Adrian Peacock and engineer David
Hinitt, this disc is a feast for the ears. Jeffrey Skidmore
and his excellent musicians bring Gabrieli’s music vividly
to life. As you might expect there’s plenty of sonorous
grandeur in pieces such as the grand, celebratory Omnes gentes
plaudite manibus with its opulent vocal parts and majestic
brass writing.However, quite a lot of the music is more
intimate in scale, reflecting, no doubt, the fact that the prime
audience for the musicians in St. Mark’s would have been
seated in the chancel, around which most of the musicians were
grouped, as John Wenham points out in his admirable notes. A
good example of this intimacy is provided by the 1597 setting
of O Jesu mi dulcissima, a devotional piece which is
essentially simple and devout in tone. The music, which is slow
in tempo, is very restrained, as are the dynamics. Skidmore
and his singers give a beautiful rendition of it, the singing
poised and refined. Gabrieli returned subsequently to the same
text and another setting was included in the 1615 Sacrae
symphoniae. We’re offered a chance to compare the
two versions. Although in the later setting the music is, once
again, slow and devotional in tone it’s noticeable that
the vocal lines are more elaborate and include quite a bit of
decoration. In places, too, the music is somewhat more ‘public’
in style, mainly at the words “in cælo fulgentem”
(“resplendent in heaven”) and for the concluding
line, “ut veneremur cælites” (“that
we may worship you as citizens of heaven”).
The programme opens in great style with Vox Domini super
aquas Jordanis. This piece is in honour of St. John the
Baptist and is grand and dignified for the most part though
the music for ‘Alleluia’ at the end is nimble and
exuberant. Impressive also is In ecclesiis
in which the music becomes increasingly elaborate, richly scored
in up to fourteen parts. Here, as elsewhere, there’s some
excellent solo singing to admire.
I enjoyed greatly the performance of the Magnificat. This is
joyful music - hence the predominance of triple time. The textures
are frequently varied and the doxology at the end is wonderfully
sonorous. The singers and players give a splendid account of
it. To round things off we hear Exultet iam angelica turba,
a piece for the Easter Vigil liturgy. This is extrovert music,
excitingly performed. There’s a good deal of flamboyant
writing for the vocal soloists - two tenors and a baritone -
and though the full scoring extends to no less than seventeen
parts most of the singers are held back for the exuberant Alleluias
at the close.
This is a splendid set of performances. The singing is consistently
animated and expert while the instrumental contributions are
equally fine. Skidmore and his splendid, committed performers,
helped by the engineers, realise the spaciousness of Gabrieli’s
music to really good effect. They’re equally successful
whether the music is subdued and prayerful or uninhibitedly
extrovert. One hears often the label “the splendours of
Venice”. Well, those splendours are compellingly revealed
here.
John Quinn
See also review by Brian
Wilson
Track Listing
Vox Domini super aquas Jordanis a 10 C64
(1615) [5:52]
In ecclesiis a 14 C78 (1615) [7:25]
Canzon primi toni a 10 C176 (1597) [3:15]
O Jesu mi dulcissima a 8 C24 (1597) [5:07]
Omnes gentes plaudite manibus a 16 C52 (1597)
[4:01]
O Jesu mi dulcissima a 8 C56 (1615) [6:21]
Kyrie a 5/8/12 C71-73 (1615) [6:43]
Maria virgo a 10 C35 (1597) [4:56]
Magnificata 12 C75 (1615) [5:38]
Litaniæ Beatæ Mariæ Virginis a 8
C63 (1615) [12:10]
Exultet iam angelica turba a 17 C131 [4:41]
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Ex Cathedra; His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts