Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina - Missa Sine Nomine; Missa L'homme Armé; Three Motets

"While the famous 'Missa Papae Marcelli' was a rather radical composition, the majority of Palestrina's masses were of a more conventional nature. Very often, they were modeled on the works of composers which had preceded him, though they were normally elaborations on [...] models from his counterparts.

"The two major works on this disc are both in six conventional sections: the 'Missa L'homme Armé' having been composed in around 1582, with the 'Missa Sine nomine' two years later. They are therefore from the latter years though dates of composition are, to say the least, somewhat blurred. He was even more prolific with his motets, with 177 published between 1563 and 1584 and a further 72 published after his death. Most are quite short but, of their type, are short masterpieces.

"[This] edition [...] makes an ideal introduction to his music, and it is superbly performed by [this] group from Bologna in a recording made in Verona during October 1995." (From the Naxos website.)

Performers: Soloists of the Cappella Musicale di S. Petronio di Bologna, Sergio Vartolo

1. Motet 'Peccantem Me Quotidie'
2. Missa Sine Nomine A 6: Kyrie
3. Missa Sine Nomine A 6: Gloria
4. Missa Sine Nomine A 6: Credo
5. Missa Sine Nomine A 6: Sanctus
6. Missa Sine Nomine A 6: Agnus Dei I
7. Missa Sine Nomine A 6: Agnus Dei II
8. Motet 'Sicut Cervus'
9. Missa L'homme Armé A 5: Kyrie
10. Missa L'homme Armé A 5: Gloria
11. Missa L'homme Armé A 5: Credo
12. Missa L'homme Armé A 5: Sanctus
13. Missa L'homme Armé A 5: Agnus Dei I
14. Missa L'homme Armé A 5: Agnus Dei II
15. Motet 'Super Flumina Babylonis'

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Kevin Drumm - Tannenbaum

Ambient/drone from Kevin Drumm, released on Dominick Fernow's Hospital Productions in 2013. Initially in an edition of 49 as a 2xCD/2xC20 package, then a month later in a run of 500 with just the CDs, then finally as a complete digital release: both in 2013 on Hospital and in 2016 on Drumm's bandcamp (still available here, for a very reasonable price). Comprised of slow, extended drone pieces that lull the ear into a seemingly false sense of auditory security. 

1. Night Side
2. Winter Ice
3. Taurean
4. Gradual Extinction
5. Return
6. Grace
7. Dimming The Gas Lights

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Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum

The original Californian heavy blues album. It is normally called 'proto-metal', but that sells short what is actually on display in all its glory here: loose, triumphantly primitive blues played by drug addled hipsters at the height (and arguably at the geographical center) of the unapologetically degenerate counter-cultural madness that was gripping America. We hear furiously immediate overdriven guitar backed by clamorous, distant drums and roaring youthful vocals from the centre. The extended jam "Doctor Please", which singer Dickie Peterson makes no secret of calling a "celebration of drugs" and a "drug anthem", is just as strung out and heavy as anything it influenced. Likewise, the opening cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" is strangely off kilter in a way that is certainly psychedelic, but far from neurotic or hackneyed. This is the 2003 remastered CD with the bonus track "All Night Long".

1. Summertime Blues
2. Rock Me Baby
3. Doctor Please
4. Out Of Focus
5. Parchment Farm
6. Second Time Around
7. All Night Long

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Francesco Cavalli - Messa Concertata

"Most of Cavalli's surviving church music was published in his 'Musiche sacre' of 1656. Like a number of collections of the period, it begins with an extended concerted setting of the Mass, the 'Messa Concertata' recorded here, and continues with a selection of the psalms and hymns needed for Vespers; it ends with some ensemble sonatas in three to twelve parts. At St. Mark's in Venice, as elsewhere, High Mass was virtually a continuous concert, with the five movements of the Ordinary interspersed with offertory and communion motets, and with ensemble sonatas. This recording is not meant to be an exact reconstruction of a particular service, but we felt that it was important to include these additional pieces in their proper liturgical position. They provide the sort of contrasts in scoring, idiom and mood that Cavalli allowed for when composing the Mass."

"We have tried in this recording to reproduce the effect of performance under Cavalli's direction, using a building — St Jude's, Hampstead Garden Suburb, in London — similar in size and acoustic to St Mark's. We have used solo voices throughout, since Italian church ensembles at the time normally sang one to a part and the Venetian concerted style was particularly focused on the interplay between soloists and instruments. The organ is a new instrument by Martin Goetze and Dominic Gwynn modelled on a type frequently used in Italian Baroque churches for continuo playing. As will be obvious to the listener, it is capable of making a much more positive and characterful contribution to the ensemble than the small chest organs with wooden pipes usually used in modern performances and recordings." (Peter Holman. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Seicento, The Parley Of Instruments, Peter Holman

1. Messa Concertata: Kyrie
2. Messa Concertata: Gloria
3. Canzona A 6
4. O Quam Suavis Et Decora
5. Messa Concertata: Credo
6. Canzona A 4
7. Messa Concertata: Sanctus & Benedictus
8. O Bone Jesu, O Jesu Amabilis
9. Canzona A 3
10. Messa Concertata: Agnus Dei
11. Canzona A 8

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Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina - Missae Papae Marcelli; Motets

"Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli enjoys an almost mythical reputation. The first six-part work published by the composer, and the only one overtly dedicated to a pope – Marcellus II – it is also credited with having 'saved' polyphony by ensuring the 'intelligibility of text' that was one of the conditions for sacred music laid down by the Council of Trent. Having undergone numerous adaptations over the years, it is now perhaps the composer's best-known and most representative work, the subject of many recordings and academic studies.

"[...] Close study of the Missa Papae Marcelli and its historical-ecclesiastical context reveals that its composer was a man who lived with an eye to the future. He accepted the challenge implied in the Council of Trent’s deliberations on sacred music, and set out to find a new idiom that would meet the Church’s new needs.

"Today, paradoxically, we find ourselves in a similar situation. The last ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, Vatican II, called on us to engage in dialogue with modern culture: only a superficial and ideological understanding of its reforms would conclude that this implied jettisoning the Church’s rich legacy of liturgical music. Our challenge is to combine this with the demands of the modern world, and that means learning from all the studies of Renaissance polyphony and Gregorian chant in order to find ways of translating the notes on the page into patterns of sound as part of our liturgical celebrations. 

"The history of the Sistine Chapel Choir tells us that its period of greatest splendour was achieved when it was 'living in the present', experimenting with new idioms, employing some of the finest singers in Europe, and working in true partnership with the Church. Over the years, however, it increasingly began to see its function as one of 'conservation' and to associate its greatness with its glorious past, convinced that any novelty – including semiological studies and Vatican II – was to be avoided or ignored. It therefore began to go into decline, overly concerned as it was with cultivating and conserving outdated performance practices that had nothing in fact to do with 'early music'.

"Our quest for aesthetic relevance and our efforts to be 'unfaithfully faithful' to a long-distant world demand daily study, research and experimentation. This is how we have to respond to Vatican II’s demands in respect of the Church’s rich musical heritage, by restoring an authentically original sound to the liturgy, balancing an awareness of the past with an understanding of the present. That 'living' sound – our music – can then inspire the worshippers of today as they travel the path of faith." (Massimo Palombella, tr. Susannah Howe. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Cappella Musicale Pontificia Sistina, Massimo Palombella

1. Missa Papae Marcelli: Kyrie
2. Missa Papae Marcelli: Gloria
3. Missa Papae Marcelli: Credo
4. Missa Papae Marcelli: Sanctus
5. Missa Papae Marcelli: Agnus Dei
6. Tu Es Pastor Ovium
7. O Bone Iesu
8. Confitemini Domino
9. Ad Te Levavi Oculos Meos
10. Benedixisti, Domine
11. Veritas Mea Et Misericordia Mea
12. Iubilate Deo
13. Confirma Hoc, Deus
14. Ave Maria

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Johann Baptist Vanhal - Missa Pastoralis; Missa Solemnis

"One of the most curious aspects of Vanhal's large musical output is the surprising number of sacred works given that at no stage in his long career was he employed first and foremost as a church musician. Among these works are around fifty settings of the Ordinary of the Mass, a substantial body of work by contemporary standards. Haydn, for example, who like Vanhal cannot be considered a 'professional' church musician, composed a dozen Masses, half of them late in life and for very specific occasions. Leopold Hofmann, Vienna's leading church musician for much of his life, wrote over forty Masses although the exact number remains uncertain. We know that Vanhal enjoyed close associations with a number of monastic foundations and it is possible that they commissioned works from him from time to time. Nonetheless. it cannot be discounted entirely that he wrote many of these works front inner conviction. There was certainly little financial gain to be had in composing church music in comparison with other genres and Vanhal, the most important and successful freelance composer in Vienna. would have been only too well aware of this.

"[...] In stylistic terms there is a strong kinship between [the Missa Solemnis] and the Missa Pastoralis that goes far deeper than instrumentation. Both works display a similar complexity of internal musical organization, one which takes precedence over the structure of the text, notably in the long Gloria and Credo movements. Vanhal takes care to set the text intelligibly but, like all composers. he devotes special care to sections like the Qui tollis, Et incarnates and Agnes Dei. The two Masses also include some thrilling contrapuntal writing for the chorus. the high point being the brilliant concluding Dona nobis fugue of the C major Mass.

"Long after his death and when his multitude of symphonies, quartets and concertos lay forgotten, Vanhal's Masses and motets continued to be performed in cathedrals and churches throughout Austria, Bohemia and the South of Germany. Their survival into the age of Brahms and Wagner was not due solely to the forces of conservatism at work in the church but rather a testament to the enduring artistic worth of the music." (Dr. Allan Badley. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Tower Voices New Zealand, Aradia Ensemble, Uwe Grodd

1. Missa Pastoralis In G Major, Weinmann XIX:G4: Kyrie
2. Missa Pastoralis In G Major, Weinmann XIX:G4: Gloria
3. Missa Pastoralis In G Major, Weinmann XIX:G4: Credo
4. Missa Pastoralis In G Major, Weinmann XIX:G4: Sanctus
5. Missa Pastoralis In G Major, Weinmann XIX:G4: Benedictus
6. Missa Pastoralis In G Major, Weinmann XIX:G4: Agnus Dei
7. Missa Solemnis In C Major, Weinmann XIX:C7: Kyrie
8. Missa Solemnis In C Major, Weinmann XIX:C7: Gloria
9. Missa Solemnis In C Major, Weinmann XIX:C7: Credo
10. Missa Solemnis In C Major, Weinmann XIX:C7: Sanctus
11. Missa Solemnis In C Major, Weinmann XIX:C7: Benedictus
12. Missa Solemnis In C Major, Weinmann XIX:C7: Agnus Dei

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Gioacchino Rossini - Petite Messe Solennelle

"Rossini called his 'little composition' the 'last mortal sin of my old age,' refer-ring back to the title of his multivolume anthology of over 150 chamber music miniatures, the 'Niches de vieillesse'. In this way he also emphasized that eyewinking, entirely (self-directed) ironic distance that speaks out of the coquettish postscript addressed to the Almighty, with which the last page of the score closes: 'Dear God — voilà,' he wrote, 'this poor, little Mass is now finally finished. Is it really sacred music [musique sacrée] or damned music [sacrée musique]? I was born for the opera buffa, as you certainly know! Little knowledge, a bit of heart, that is all. Therefore, be praised and grant me paradise.' We do not know whether the [plea to] God came to fulfilment, but these lines, which have fun with their play on the suggestive double meaning of the word sacré ('sacred', but also 'damned'), give eloquent testimony to the ambivalence that Rossini saw even in the style of writing of his church music.

"[...] Authentic nineteenth-century church music, as only conceivable in the optimistic ambience of Mediterranean culture, upright and genuine, or an expression of misguided taste, like plastic flowers as altar decorations, artificial and bigoted? Opinions have long diverged when it comes to appraising Rossini's sacred music (as well as that of his compatriots). Especially to German ears, his church compositions offer too little of that humility toward the theological message in which the word enjoys undisputed precedence, and that one was accustomed to in the great, distinguished tradition from Schütz to Bach. Rossini, on the other hand, merely takes the liturgical text as the frame for his thoroughly graceful musical ideas, and as a general principle frees himself from the obligation to provide a painstaking textual interpretation. Naturally, this supposed incursion of the banality of the profane, indeed of the sensual into the devout aura of the reverential spirit clashes with the dogmatism of Middle-European religious understanding, and therefore must also be an eternal thorn in the flesh of the arrogant German aesthetics of music. Rossini was certainly aware of this when he offended Eduard Hanslick, the feared Viennese critic, by answering his question about the Mass with the remark: 'This is not music for you Germans. My holiest music is always only semi-seria.'

"We will never know for sure just how Rossini defined the term 'holy music' for himself, nor the meaning of a curious and singular performance instruction: 'Allegro cristiano' is the marking that the roguish composer wrote over the opening measures of the Credo. Tempo indication or confession of faith — what is meant here?" (Roman Hinke, tr. Howard Weiner. From the liner notes.)

Performers: RIAS Kammerchor, Marcus Creed

1. Petite Messe Solennelle: Kyrie: I. Kyrie
2. Petite Messe Solennelle: Kyrie: II. Christe
3. Petite Messe Solennelle: Kyrie: III. Kyrie
4. Petite Messe Solennelle: Gloria: I. Gloria In Excelsis Deo
5. Petite Messe Solennelle: Gloria: II. Laudamus Te
6. Petite Messe Solennelle: Gloria: III. Gratias
7. Petite Messe Solennelle: Gloria: IV. Domine Deus
8. Petite Messe Solennelle: Gloria: V. Qui Tollis
9. Petite Messe Solennelle: Gloria: VI. Quoniam
10. Petite Messe Solennelle: Gloria: VII. Cum Sancto Spiritu
11. Petite Messe Solennelle: Credo: I. Credo In Unum Deum
12. Petite Messe Solennelle: Credo: II. Crucifixus
13. Petite Messe Solennelle: Credo: III. Et Resurrexit
14. Petite Messe Solennelle: Credo: IV. Et Vitam Venturi
15. Petite Messe Solennelle: Prélude Religieux (Pendant L'Offertoire)
16. Petite Messe Solennelle: Ritournelle
17. Petite Messe Solennelle: Sanctus
18. Petite Messe Solennelle: O Salutaris
19. Petite Messe Solennelle: Agnus Dei

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