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Victoria: Requiem - Officium defunctorum (1605) / McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort
Tomas Luis de Victoria, Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort
Victoria: Requiem - Officium defunctorum (1605) / McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (19) - Disc #1

Victoria's famous Requiem, fully titled Officium defunctorum ("Office for the Dead"), published in 1605, was composed for the funeral of the Dowager Empress Maria (daughter of Charles V, sister of Philip II, wife of Empero...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Tomas Luis de Victoria, Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort
Title: Victoria: Requiem - Officium defunctorum (1605) / McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Archiv
Release Date: 3/21/2005
Album Type: Import
Genre: Classical
Style: Opera & Classical Vocal
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 028944709520

Synopsis

Amazon.com essential recording
Victoria's famous Requiem, fully titled Officium defunctorum ("Office for the Dead"), published in 1605, was composed for the funeral of the Dowager Empress Maria (daughter of Charles V, sister of Philip II, wife of Emperor Maximilian) in 1603 in Madrid. Paul McCreesh's recording aims to re-create that service, with prayers and chants (including the well-known Dies irae, not set by Victoria) in their liturgical sequence. This alternation of chant and polyphony gives a good idea--better than would Victoria's polyphony alone--of just how solemn and sumptuous the Empress's funeral was. This wouldn't matter, of course, if the Gabrieli Consort's performance of this bewitchingly melancholy music were anything less than excellent. It's that and more--as the music progresses, the singing becomes more involved and intense; by the time the Sanctus arrives, it is transcendent. --Matthew Westphal

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CD Reviews

El mejor de los Requiem Renacentistas Hispanos
P. Alvarez | Killeen, Texas United States | 04/02/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Una obra sublime, brillante

llena del misticismo y el

fervor Hispanico. Este es

uno de los mejores "Officium

Defunctorum" proveniente de Espana.

Tomas Luis de Victoria es uno

de los mejores exponentes del arte

musical sacro, lo que lo hace uno

los miembros de "La triada Espanola"

los otros dos compositores son Guerrero

y Morales. El Requiem de 1603 de Tomas

Luis de VIctoria fue compuesto para las

exequias de la emperatriz Maria de Austria.

En esta grabaccion el director Paul McCreesh

nos presenta la obra como fue presentada en

las exequias de la emperatriz, el director

incluye algunos cantos gregorianos asi como

lo hizo Victoria en aquel entonces, tal

practica colabora a completar la liturgia.

Este es un disco de maxima recomendaccion

el conjunto Gabrielli Consort hace

un trabajo formidable..."
Great Singing, Annoying Format and Recording Job
Timothy Dougal | Madison, Wi United States | 03/08/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)

"This disc of the "Requiem" contains some of the best singing I have ever heard, and the interpretation of Victoria's music is unmatched for dramatic intensity. However, (and for me these are significant howevers), both the presentation and recording job are problematic. Like many of McCreesh's recordings, this is a reconstruction. If you have never been at a Catholic high Mass in the old style, or are a liturgical historian, it may be interesting, once or twice, to hear the context in which the "Requiem" originally was heard. That being said, though, the ordinary chants, including the chanted readings, are frankly ordinary, utilitarian, tedious, and of minimal musical interest. The one exception here is the "Dies Irae", sung in its entirety. All told, you have to program out about 25% of this disc to listen to just the Victoria music. The other caveat is that for some reason the sibilant sounds, and the t's and p's, are REALLY prominent in the mix. If you've got equipment that can minimize this, you're way ahead, sonically."
Haunting...stunningly beautiful singing.
Anton Karidian | Toronto | 01/06/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"The all male chorus of the Gabrielli Consort under the direction of McCreesh sing with impeccable beauty. The ethereal quality apt for a Requiem setting is perfectly realized conveying effectively a pious reverent quality suitable for this piece."