Victoria: Tenebrae Responsories
I Fagiolini, Robert Hollingworth
The vocal timbre Hollingworth has coaxed from his soloists is intensely pure and smooth, yet there is nothing pallid about this particular early-music sound – surges of passion abound.
Victoria: Tenebrae Responsories
I Fagiolini, Robert Hollingworth
Purchase product
The vocal timbre Hollingworth has coaxed from his soloists is intensely pure and smooth, yet there is nothing pallid about this particular early-music sound – surges of passion abound.
About
In the late 16th century when vocal polyphony was developing into the excesses of the late Italian madrigal and the powerplay of multi-choir writing in Venice, Victoria, in Rome, chose to write his 18 Tenebrae settings with the simplest texture imaginable: four voices with internal sections for just two or three parts. These perfect miniatures force the question: how can so little mean so much? Victoria’s austere yet profoundly moving setting of the Responsories for the services of Tenebrae (shadows) is one of the great classics of Renaissance music. In this new recording sung by solo voices it is restored to the low pitch and voicing intended by the composer. These perfect miniatures are interspersed with nine of Christopher Reid’s heart-rending poems from his 2009 collection and Costa Book of the Year winner, ‘A Scattering’, a moving collection on the dying and death of his wife.
Contents and tracklist
- Rebecca Lea (soprano), Martha McLorinan (vocalist), Matthew Long (tenor), Greg Skidmore (baritone), Frederick Long (bass-baritone)
- I Fagiolini
- Robert Hollingworth
- Rebecca Lea (soprano), Martha McLorinan (vocalist), Matthew Long (tenor), Greg Skidmore (baritone), Frederick Long (bass-baritone)
- I Fagiolini
- Robert Hollingworth
- Rebecca Lea (soprano), Martha McLorinan (vocalist), Matthew Long (tenor), Greg Skidmore (baritone), Frederick Long (bass-baritone)
- I Fagiolini
- Robert Hollingworth
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Awards and reviews
June 2024
The vocal timbre Hollingworth has coaxed from his soloists is intensely pure and smooth, yet there is nothing pallid about this particular early-music sound – surges of passion abound.
April 2024
There are plenty more versions of the music out there but this one creates a very special colour and atmosphere. Nobody is likely to regret obtaining a copy, however many other recordings they have of the same music.
