Search - Taverner Consort :: Stabat Mater / O Beata Et Bene

The best possible introduction to Renaissance polyphony

Sator | Sydney, Australia | 06/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When we think of the art of the Renaissance we immediately think of the great works of Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, El Greco, Botticelli - the list seems almost endless. Yet most people would struggle to name even a single composer, so dominated are we still by the Austro-German legacy in music. In fact it would come as a shock to many music lovers to suggest that the musical contemporaries of these Renaissance artists were just as capable as the painters, sculptors and architects of these time. To discover the world of Renaissance polyphony is like discovering the works of Leonardo and Michelangelo for the first time.



This CD is the perfect way to explore this brave new world. The contrapunctal complexities of this age have never been equalled let alone surpassed since. The works here concentrate on key compositions by composers of the Seconda Prattica who were associated with the Sistine Chapel and many original manuscripts are preserved there. The most famous of these is the Allegri Miserere, but there is an excellent selection of some of the finest compositions of the Renaissance here. The only composer well and truly of the Prima Prattica is Josquin who is represented here by his motet Pater Noster.



The ensemble here is truly exceptional. I find the Taverner Consort's rendition of the Allegri Miserere to be the finest I have yet to hear. Performances of the other motets are all equally superb. The recorded sound is also very good.



I would strongly recommend this to anyone wanting to explore the world of Renaissance polyphony for the first time but were unsure where to start. This provides a far superior anthology than any other I know. For those of us well and truly familiar with the music this is still an excellent collection of motets, exceptionally well performed."