Palestrina: Lamentation III (Book III)
The Choir of Westminster Cathedral, Martin Baker (The Master of Music)
Everything about this disc, from the captivating sound to the sleeve notes, is of the highest quality. A must for choral fans
Palestrina: Lamentation III (Book III)
The Choir of Westminster Cathedral, Martin Baker (The Master of Music)
Purchase product
Everything about this disc, from the captivating sound to the sleeve notes, is of the highest quality. A must for choral fans
About
Westminster Cathedral. Easter Lamentations. Palestrina. You can almost smell the incense before unwrapping this enticing new recording from the established masters of the genre. Palestrina composed four sets of Lamentations, the third of which is recorded here. This most opulent of liturgies runs as a continuous narrative describing momentous Biblical events from the Last Supper through to Christs crucifixion and death. Throughout the centuries composers of sacred music have aspired to do justice to this most dramatic of scenarios and Palestrinas settings rank amongst the finest. He employs a rich harmonic palette, constantly varying the vocal texture and using up to seven voice-parts simultaneously. The Choir of Westminster Cathedral has an unparalleled reputation. Since its inception under Cardinal Vaughan and Richard Runciman Terry the choirs uniquely continental sound and its position as the worlds only Catholic cathedral choir to sing the full daily liturgy have met with consistent and repeated acclaim.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
Everything about this disc, from the captivating sound to the sleeve notes, is of the highest quality. A must for choral fans
Among the many other things for which the independent record company Hyperion deserves our gratitude is its long-standing engagement of Westminster Catherdral Choir, England’s finest Catholic choir, to record the masterpieces of sacred polyphony … Palestrina’s third of his four settings
of the Lamentations of Jeremiah is marked by sinuous vocal lines, harmonic richness, unpredictable modality and telling passages of homophonic writing … Martin Baker rightly emphasises the classical perfection of Palestrina’s polyphony … as usual, Hyperion’s engineers have worked miracles
with the difficult acoustics of Westminster Cathedral. Jon Dixon contributes a first-rate booklet essay, which helpfully situates the performance of Lamentations within the complex rituals of Holy Week celebrations
2011 edition
very beautifully sung at Westminster Cathedral and superbly recorded...the trebles rise up into the heavens ecstatically. A memorable disc indeed, showing Palestrina at his most inspirational.
