Beyond Chant

Amazon.com Go right to the first track and prepare for one of the most masterful and stylish performances of Palestrina that you'll ever hear. It's not flashy music nor is the singing especially virtuosic, but the unified phrasing, ideal balance among sections, and overall ensemble technique is impressive, and Palestrina's little motet simply opens and displays itself like a beautiful flower. The rest of the program, which includes a variety of beautiful flowers from composers such as Josquin, Sweelinck, and Tallis, maintains the same standard. Anyone looking for an introduction to Renaissance sacred choral music will find much here to encourage further exploration--standards like Byrd's "Ave verum corpus" and Victoria's "O magnum mysterium"-- and lesser known tiny masterpieces such as Victoria's "Jesu, dulcis memoria." The Voices of Ascension ranks with the world's finest choirs, and this recording reflects both the highest standard of choral singing and the highest standard of choral composition during the Renaissance. --David Vernier Product description Beyond Chant Dennis Keene (Artist), Voices of Ascension (Artist), Voices of Ascension Chorus & Orchestra (Orchestra) Format: Audio CD. Review ...a wonderfully satisfying cross section of Renaissance music. -- USA Today Sheer musical excellence... Mr. Keene drew an intensity from his singers that effectively tapped into both the meditative and ecstatic currents of the music. -- New York Times From the Artist On the evening of March 3, 1994 the Voices of Ascension and I presented the works on this our second CD in a live concert in New York City. The setting was the place where we originated, and where we still perform: the Church of the Ascension, the oldest church building on Fifth Avenue. The day of the concert we were in a panic because the 17th(!) blizzard of the winter was hitting the city. We were resigned to performing to a "select" audience. Much to our astonishment, by 8:05 PM the church was jam-packed. Every nook and cranny was filled with people who had fought their way through the snowstorm, the stalled traffic, the overcrowded subways, and the dangerous, icy sidewalks. I will never forget the atmosphere of the room when we started our first piece, Palestrina's Sicut cervus. As soon as the tenors came out with their first note there was a remarkable calm and silence in the room, and hardly a cough or jostled program was heard for the next hour and a quarter. These were "hassled" city people who were in need of the beautiful spiritual world these pieces had to offer. I think that as our modern lives get more and more noisy and cluttered we yearn for a more peaceful and transcendent world. Perhaps that explains the recent interest in the antique music of the church -- the music heard in the old basilicas, cathedrals and monasteries of Europe. -- Dennis Keene
ASIN: B0000006ZN
VSKU: DBV.B0000006ZN.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Dennis Keene|Voices of Ascension
Binding: Audio CD
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Condition Notes: Individually inspected: Guaranteed to play perfectly or your money back. Case may show wear and may be in library packaging. Ships Fast!