Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Anyone looking to find an introduction to early choral music could do a lot worse than start with this excellent disc. Covering three distinct styles of polyphony - the earthy richness of Lassus, the high English Gothic elaboration of Ashewell (who precedes the other composers on this disc by some 50 years), and the celestial, timeless purity of Palestrina - this is a beautiful recording of a very fine ensemble singing in a luminous acoustic. The Agnus Dei of the Palestrina mass particularly will melt the hardest of hearts. Highly recommended.
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Another great achievement by Paul Van Nevel and Huelgas Ensemble! This recording comprises works of Palestrina, Lasso and Ashewell who are from three different periods of Renaissance. As expected from this brilliant ensemble, this selection reflects amazing talent and dedication to an era of music that is forever young! Thank you Paul Van Nevel for yet another contribution.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
P. Van Nevel at his best - You MUST hear the Ashewell Mass
1 Sep 2011
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm astounded this fine CD has yet to be reviewed. This is, to my ears, the best the Huelgas Ensemble has ever sounded. The three masses are presented strictly vocally in very pure performances, Van Nevel allowing the music to speak for itself, leaving all eccentricities aside (except perhaps for the programming). The Huelgas Ensemble's intonation, phrasing, balance, and blend is spot on, and the CD is gorgeously recorded. (Though more reverberant than my usual preference, sacrificing some clarity, it works quite well for me here, with the voices so perfectly blended and transparent.)
The three six-voice masses on the CD were deliberately chosen to contrast with one another: The masses by the two contemporaries Palestrina and Lassus representing the Roman school and Franco-Flemish style, respectively. Merely programming music by these two masters on the same CD would in itself have provided an interesting contrast, but it is with the mass (from a couple of generations earlier) brilliantly sandwiched between them that this CD really shines.
You simply must hear the Ashewell mass, representative of the "English Late Gothic" style. It is easily worth the price of the CD alone. Quite startling -- but very effective and musical -- false relations abound! It features great variety throughout all four movements (he did not set the Kyrie), and the writing is often particularly creative rhythmically. But it also features soaring, expansive melodies that knock me out. I have never heard anything else by Ashewell (also Ashwell). He lived from c. 1478 to sometime between 1513-27. Apparently there are only two complete extant works by him, both masses. At the end of his life he served as cantor at Durham Cathedral (what a place to work! -- if you haven't been there, but have an interest in it, you really should go).
Two quick notes:
1. Fourteen singers were used for this recording.
2. The Credo of the Palestrina mass was omitted for reasons of space.
The three six-voice masses on the CD were deliberately chosen to contrast with one another: The masses by the two contemporaries Palestrina and Lassus representing the Roman school and Franco-Flemish style, respectively. Merely programming music by these two masters on the same CD would in itself have provided an interesting contrast, but it is with the mass (from a couple of generations earlier) brilliantly sandwiched between them that this CD really shines.
You simply must hear the Ashewell mass, representative of the "English Late Gothic" style. It is easily worth the price of the CD alone. Quite startling -- but very effective and musical -- false relations abound! It features great variety throughout all four movements (he did not set the Kyrie), and the writing is often particularly creative rhythmically. But it also features soaring, expansive melodies that knock me out. I have never heard anything else by Ashewell (also Ashwell). He lived from c. 1478 to sometime between 1513-27. Apparently there are only two complete extant works by him, both masses. At the end of his life he served as cantor at Durham Cathedral (what a place to work! -- if you haven't been there, but have an interest in it, you really should go).
Two quick notes:
1. Fourteen singers were used for this recording.
2. The Credo of the Palestrina mass was omitted for reasons of space.
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
