Review Music Web International
This release follows the programming pattern established in previous recordings by luminatus such as Love Devine (review), in which we are introduced to world premieres of composers from the Renaissance period, followed by a selection of works by living female composers. All of this is presented in a nice foldout digipak including a booklet with excellent notes by David Bray, and all sung texts with translations into English where necessary.
Choirs have their individual character, and the voices of luminatus strike me as uplifting and positive in the best way – not in any way forced or artificial, but naturally bright and lively in colour, even where the music is minor-key and more profound or dolorous. The substantial first part of this programme presents some rarely heard repertoire and unfamiliar names, kicking off with the Franco-Flemish madrigal master Cipriano de Rore, in which whose Ancor che col partire the Missa Ancor che col partire by Philippe de Monte playes a significant role. You wouldn’t really know it from the music, but the original madrigal is concerned with “the emotions experienced by parting lovers, [and] generally viewed as a description of erotic love”. The use of this kind of material in Masses was widespread in the first half of the 16th century, with a mixture of earthly and divine love only later becoming restricted with pronouncements from the Council of Trent (1545-1563). The Missa Ancor che col partire is quite direct in expression, with word settings that emphasise rhythm and an approach to counterpoint that, while full of expressive line and beauty, doesn’t challenge or elaborate on the example of Palestrina in terms of harmonic adventurousness.
All of the remaining Renaissance pieces are real gems, with Francesco Stivori’s five-part Dominus Illuminatio Mea offering a more complex and thickly textured counterpoint than from Philippe de Monte. This is contrasted with the radiance of Tiburtio Massaino’s four-part Illuminare, Jerusalem with its upper voices throwing their high notes into the fine acoustic for this recording. Philippe Verdelot was from France but worked for most of his life in Florence, and while he was influential on the Italian madrigal his motet Beata es, Virgo Maria for seven voices is slow and richly restrained. Another Frenchman who emigrated to Italy, Jacquet de Mantua, provides an example of the Council of Trent’s determination for texts to have greater clarity, and the relative simplicity of O Jesu Christe is demonstration of open textures and imaginative cadences. The Renaissance section of this programme concludes with Ippolito Baccusi’s eight-part Regina coeli laetare, an example of the antiphonal double-choir style that was popular in Venice, and a suitably grand close to this part of the recording.
The transition from the Renaissance to the contemporary repertoire is a soft one, with Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s Benedictus benedicat composed to be suitable for singing Grace and incorporating 16th century elements into her personal idiom. This contrasts with the rhythmic energy of Lordings Listen To Our Lay, which is a rousing Christmas carol clearly relished by the luminatus voices but will alas be too complicated to enter the annual festive canon. Dividing these pieces is Cecilia McDowall’s heartfelt Prayer for four voices and a soprano solo taken with pure and elegant clarity by Hannah Littleton. At Water’s Edge by Melissa Dunphy is a kind of lament tinged with resistance that sets a text on the theme of oppression, while Kerry Andrew’s Stella Matutina contrasts close and open harmonies to create luminosity for a Medieval text, ‘Christ is the Morning Star’. The programme closes with Rosa Elliott’s A Light Has Dawned, that grows into light out of darkness referring to a text from Isiah that illustrates the “light that shines in the dark”, the Son of God. All of these pieces are entirely approachable and often very beautiful, revealing aspects of a very lively choral composing tradition which should be nurtured and appreciated more widely.
Superbly recorded and performed with stylish polish by the voices of luminatus, this is a release that should bring refined delight to everyone keen on excellent choral music both ancient and modern.