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Track(s) taken from CDA68299

Verbum caro factum est

composer
Hans Leo Hassler (1562-1612)
6vv; SSAATB
author of text
Bible
John 1: 14; Ninth Respond at Matins and Processional Respond at Mass on Christmas Day

The Gesualdo Six, Owain Park (director)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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Recording details: January 2019
Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: November 2019
Total duration: 2 minutes 22 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

The London Oratory Schola Cantorum, Charles Cole (conductor)

Reviews

‘A delightful album by an all-male a cappella group is hard to come by—all too often they’re po-faced or schmaltzy; but this is neither. An elegant blend of old and new’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The close recording of the male-voice line-up of The Gesualdo Six on Christmas reveals the tightness of their ensemble in repertoire ranging from Praetorius to Cheryl Frances-Hoad. Tenor Joseph Wicks’ a cappella arrangement of Jonathan Harvey’s The Annnunciation and director Owain Park’s vibrant On the Infancy of our Saviour compliment well-chosen pieces, making for a delightful and informative listening experience—and a thoughtful stocking filler!’ (Choir & Organ)

‘What I love about this group—this is just their second disc—is it’s incredibly natural, it’s very forthright: they are so musical, so sensitive; we see straight through to the text … the way they listen to each other—the Tallis, these long phrases—I don’t know how they can sing it that slowly with so few singers. It really is miraculous! … I love that sense of magic that they get … not something kitsch and traditional and retrospective but something that has life in it’ (BBC Record Review)

„Unter dem schichten Titel 'Christmas' ist bei Hyperion allerdings alles andere als eine bloße Pflichtübung erschienen … gemeinsam verfügen sie [The Gesualdo Six] über eine reich sich verströmende Substanz, die Stimmen zeichnen klar, sind fein balanciert und zur edlen Verschmelzung fähig … in der Summe ist das ein eigenständiges, gelegentlich auch eigenwilliges Programm, mit schroffen, aber fruchtbaren stilistischen Wechseln auf engstem Raum“ (Klassik.com, Germany)» More
PERFORMANCE
RECORDING
Verbum caro factum est is an exultant setting of the famous account of the Incarnation from the beginning of St John’s Gospel, and would have been sung at Matins on Christmas Day. This setting by Hans Leo Hassler for six voices was first published in his 1591 collection Cantiones sacrae. Borrowing from the Venetian tradition, voices are split into groups that pass the music back and forth before coming joyfully together at climactic moments in the text. At the close of the work, Hassler alternates between a three- and six-voice texture at great speed on ‘et veritatis’, resulting in an almost rhapsodic portrayal of the revelation of God’s truth.

from notes by Owain Park © 2019

Other albums featuring this work

Sacred treasures of Christmas
The London Oratory Schola Cantorum, Charles Cole (conductor)
Studio Master: CDA68358Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available

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