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Lamentations de la Renaissance - Settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah by Orlando de Lassus, Robert White, Tiburtiano Massaino, and Marbrianus de Orto
Orlande de Lassus, Tiburtio Massaino, Marbrianus de Orto
Lamentations de la Renaissance - Settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah by Orlando de Lassus, Robert White, Tiburtiano Massaino, and Marbrianus de Orto
Genres: Pop, Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (11) - Disc #1

The Lamentations of Jeremiah appear in the old Catholic liturgy only once a year--during Holy Week--yet during the Renaissance and Baroque eras, Lamentations became a separate compositional genre comparable to Masses, Magn...  more »

     
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The Lamentations of Jeremiah appear in the old Catholic liturgy only once a year--during Holy Week--yet during the Renaissance and Baroque eras, Lamentations became a separate compositional genre comparable to Masses, Magnificats, and Requiems. The vivid imagery in the texts, along with the solemnity of Holy Week and the opportunity for "pure music" offered by the Hebrew letter that begins each verse, proved very attractive to composers. Particularly famous settings include those by Thomas Tallis and François Couperin. True to form, Paul van Nevel and the Huelgas Ensemble (in their debut recording for Harmonia Mundi) revive fine examples of the genre by two all-but-forgotten composers, Tiburtio Massaino and Marbrianus de Orto, alongside settings by the better-known Orlando di Lasso and Robert White. The dark-hued voices of the Huelgas Ensemble suit this marvelously melancholy music well; Van Nevel and his singers deserve particular praise for maintaining clarity of line in some very densely written music. (One notable point: while 16th-century Lamentation settings are usually performed a cappella, Van Nevel uses recorders and viol in the de Orto setting to alternate with and occasionally replace the voices.) Perhaps the Lasso could stand a little more high drama, but the plain-spoken sobriety of the Massaino and the suave solemnity of the White come across eloquently. --Matthew Westphal
 

CD Reviews

Powerful music, brilliantly directed, beautiful voices
Ralph Gifford (giffr@aol.com) | Brussels, Belgium | 09/29/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Paul van Nevel and his Huelgas Ensemble have produced many spectacular recordings of Renaissance polyphony. His "Lamentations" is one of the most beautiful and moving.Many composers have set the Lamentations of Jeremiah to music; this CD features the works of three masters from different corners of Europe: Orlando di Lasso, Marbrianus de Orto, Tiburtio Massaino, and RObert White.As always the voices of the Huelgas Ensemble are beautiful, but in this recording they sound more powerful and confident than ever. Although Phil Spector was known for his "wall of sound," the entirely different oeuvre of van Nevel gives an even more three-dimensional quality.I place this with van Nevel's "Utopia Triumphans" as an absolute must for early music lovers."
Relativity required
Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 10/02/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Given that one album by any pop music star probably outsells all the Renaissance polyphony on CDs, perhaps I ought to give every performance by every Early Music ensemble five stars and a rave review. Certainly the music of Lassus's setting of Jeremiah is glorious to the edge of immortality. I only wish that the performance of it by the Huelgas Ensemble approached my personal ideal of what it should sound like. Alas, the Huelgas group sounds too much like a big religious college choir - a good choir but still not the kind of sound that Lassus had in mind, too broad, too mellifluous, too "safe" in every way. The prime fault lies, I fear, with the conducting of Paul Van Nevel, whose baton is too ponderous to bring any brightness, any flashes of harmonic tension or rhythmic precision to the performance.

To support my criticism, I'll offer a comparison. Listen to the CD titled LAMENTATIO by Ensemble Officium (also a choir rather than a one-on-a-part ensemble). If you don't much prefer Officium to Huelgas, then our taste must be quite different, and de gustibus non disputandum.



Huelgas deserves enormous credit for bringing much obscure Renaissance music to public notice. Many thanks to them for their devotion."