Search - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Tomas Luis de Victoria, Christopher Jackson :: Palestrina: Missa Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, etc.

The Pope Marcellus Mass is the first Palestrina mass that most people encounter, but this delicious work makes a far better introduction to his music. The title theme on which the entire mass is based is simple and clear (change "ut" to "do" and think of Julie Andrews); since that theme is a plain rising scale, all of Palestrina's contrapuntal tricks--running the theme forward, backward, inverted, at different speeds in different voices--are easy to spot. Other pieces on the disc include Victoria's luscious double-choir "Ave Maria" and "Salve Regina," which disprove the myth that Victoria's music is all Spanish gloom. Jackson's choir sings all these works with real skill and a beautiful warm tone--who knew that there was early music like this in Montreal? --Matthew Westphal