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Review
Officium Novum completes a stunning trilogy that began back in 1993 when Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and British vocal quartet The Hilliard Ensemble first collaborated on the original Officium album. Released the next year, it blended pure unaccompanied voices with soaring saxophone on a programme of medieval church music. Unpredictably, that unique combination was an immediate success. The album became one of the biggest sellers on the ECM label and hit the charts in several countries.
In 1999, the five released a follow-up, the double album Mnemosyne, which featured a more adventurous range of music adding traditional and world music plus Garbarek compositions. Admirers of those albums have long been anticipating the arrival of Officium Novum. Despite the similar album title, it is not a re-recording or repackaging of Officium but consists entirely of pieces recorded in June 2009, including Armenian church music, two Garbarek originals and Arvo Pärt’s Most Holy Mother of God.
The compatibility between the voices and saxophone will please both jazz aficionados and followers of choral music. Garbarek’s saxophone acts as a fifth voice, harmonising with the other four. He also improvises melodic lines that swoop out of the ensemble, creating an exhilarating feeling of lightness and freedom.
As with the first two albums, the recording took place at the St Gerold monastery in Austria. Chosen for its acoustics, the monastery is an important element in the Officium story. The resounding natural reverberation it adds to the music gives it greater depth and majesty than would be expected from four voices and a saxophone. When Garbarek and The Hilliard Ensemble perform live, they generally play in venues with a similar ambience, such as St Paul’s Cathedral or King’s College Chapel, Cambridge.
While some listeners may potentially feel alienated by the use of such Christian locations and by the religious connotations of some of the repertoire, they should not let them spoil their enjoyment. Sung in various languages, the music carries no overtly religious messages and is not attempting to preach to anyone. Instead, those of any faith or of no faith can appreciate its simple beauty.
--John EylesFind more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
The Independent On Sunday, (Phil Johnson), September 12, 2010
(5 stars) A natural extension to the 1994 original. It's also strikingly beautiful.
(4 stars) Fine balance of tranquil tonal contrasts and episodes of exultant collective intensity...The Officium saga's many admirers will be enchanted.
(4 stars) The liaison of Jan Garbarek's plaintive saxophone improvisations with the Hilliard Ensemble's hauntingly pure singing proved magically alluring...immensely moving.
(4 stars) Fine balance of tranquil tonal contrasts and episodes of exultant collective intensity...The Officium saga's many admirers will be enchanted.
(4 stars) The liaison of Jan Garbarek's plaintive saxophone improvisations with the Hilliard Ensemble's hauntingly pure singing proved magically alluring...immensely moving.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
55 of 57 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
In this, their third collaboration, Norwegian saxophonist
Jan Garbarek and vocal quartet The Hilliard Ensemble
(David Jones / countertenor; Rogers Covey-Crump / tenor;
Steven Harold / tenor and Gordon Jones / baritone) have
taken the liturgical musical canon of the Armenian Orthodox
church as the starting point for another sublime musical journey.
The juxtaposition of Mr Garbarek's haunting soprano and tenor
inventions within and around the other-worldly background of
The Hilliard's peerless vocal interpretations is never less than
thrilling. If there is a heaven this marriage was made there!
At the heart of this wonderful album the arrangement of
Nicolai N. Kedrov's extraordinarily beautiful 'Litany'
delivers a remarkable listening and emotional experience.
The intensity generated by Mr Garbarek's mercurial playing
and the sedate concentration of the four singers' perfectly
measured rendition of the vocal score is simply sublime.
Arvo Part's 'Most Holy Mother Of God' is another of the project's
most affecting highlights. As an expression of simple but profoundly
articulated faith the composition and performance is very moving.
(Mr Garbarek watches in silence from the wings on this one).
'Alleluia. Nativitas', a jaunty piece by 12th century composer
Perotin, ducks and dives and dances in the sun without a care in
the world. A little light relief from the otherwise sober and
reverential atmosphere of the rest of the album and a playful
manifestation of another kind of spiritual vision and joy.
Manfred Eicher's luminously detailed production for ECM is magical.
The accompanying booklet, with an informative text by
Thomas Steinfeld and stunning black and white photographs
by Mario Giacomelli further enhance our enjoyment.
An important recording of inspired artistry and refinement.
Essential.
Jan Garbarek and vocal quartet The Hilliard Ensemble
(David Jones / countertenor; Rogers Covey-Crump / tenor;
Steven Harold / tenor and Gordon Jones / baritone) have
taken the liturgical musical canon of the Armenian Orthodox
church as the starting point for another sublime musical journey.
The juxtaposition of Mr Garbarek's haunting soprano and tenor
inventions within and around the other-worldly background of
The Hilliard's peerless vocal interpretations is never less than
thrilling. If there is a heaven this marriage was made there!
At the heart of this wonderful album the arrangement of
Nicolai N. Kedrov's extraordinarily beautiful 'Litany'
delivers a remarkable listening and emotional experience.
The intensity generated by Mr Garbarek's mercurial playing
and the sedate concentration of the four singers' perfectly
measured rendition of the vocal score is simply sublime.
Arvo Part's 'Most Holy Mother Of God' is another of the project's
most affecting highlights. As an expression of simple but profoundly
articulated faith the composition and performance is very moving.
(Mr Garbarek watches in silence from the wings on this one).
'Alleluia. Nativitas', a jaunty piece by 12th century composer
Perotin, ducks and dives and dances in the sun without a care in
the world. A little light relief from the otherwise sober and
reverential atmosphere of the rest of the album and a playful
manifestation of another kind of spiritual vision and joy.
Manfred Eicher's luminously detailed production for ECM is magical.
The accompanying booklet, with an informative text by
Thomas Steinfeld and stunning black and white photographs
by Mario Giacomelli further enhance our enjoyment.
An important recording of inspired artistry and refinement.
Essential.
42 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
There has been surprisingly little reaction to this by British critics and what there is is somewhat sniffy. Do not be deterred by this indifference, for this is a significant release, accompanied by a beautiful and informative booklet featuring some photographs by the late Mario Giacomelli which perfectly evoke the feel of the music. For the uninitiated, 1994's "Officium" was a huge critical and commercial hit connecting with the then vogue for Gregorian Chant. However, while "Officium" was good, 1999's double "Mnemosyne", drawing from a wider range of sources, was fantastic; richer, more varied, more disorientating but ultimately more satisfying. Now "Novum Officium" builds on the fascination of ECM and Manfred Eicher in particular of Armenia and the Orthodox liturgical tradition in general.
On the first few listens, I was slightly disappointed and wondered if the underlying conclusion of the "broadsheet" reviews ("If you liked "Officium" you will like this too") did evidence a treading of water. As so often, subsequent, sustained exposure has cured such misconceptions. While Garbarek's saxophone initially seemed too intrusive, now it soars, on occasions echoing (as has been remarked elsewhere) the wonderful Armenian rosewood instrument, the duduk. The Hilliard Ensemble's singing is as beautiful as ever but perhaps even more haunting as they sing such material as the Byzantine chant "Svjete tihij" ("Gladsome light") and, in the case of baritone Gordon Jones, the Russian Lord's Prayer "Otche Nash".
Not everything succeeds (the jauntiness of Perotin's "Alleluia. Nativitas" is rather out of place) but, at its highest, this is magical musical beautiful, profound, orthodox and unorthodox in every sense and as the liner notes say "highly informed, austere and yet artistically free."
On the first few listens, I was slightly disappointed and wondered if the underlying conclusion of the "broadsheet" reviews ("If you liked "Officium" you will like this too") did evidence a treading of water. As so often, subsequent, sustained exposure has cured such misconceptions. While Garbarek's saxophone initially seemed too intrusive, now it soars, on occasions echoing (as has been remarked elsewhere) the wonderful Armenian rosewood instrument, the duduk. The Hilliard Ensemble's singing is as beautiful as ever but perhaps even more haunting as they sing such material as the Byzantine chant "Svjete tihij" ("Gladsome light") and, in the case of baritone Gordon Jones, the Russian Lord's Prayer "Otche Nash".
Not everything succeeds (the jauntiness of Perotin's "Alleluia. Nativitas" is rather out of place) but, at its highest, this is magical musical beautiful, profound, orthodox and unorthodox in every sense and as the liner notes say "highly informed, austere and yet artistically free."
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The original Officium was stunning both in execution and atmosphere and moved the senses in a way that few CDs can. It really did carry you away to the hidden monastery of St Gerold in Austria where it was recorded. The follow-up Mnemosyne was not quite as successful to my ears, being more random and less fluid. Having sung from a young age and still regularly singing plainsong and early music in church, this didn't flick the same switches. The new album mines a different seam from earlier efforts but is more in keeping with Officium than Mnemosyne. If it is not quite as impressive as the first effort, that is perhaps due to familiarity rather than content. If you liked the first album, you'll surely like this one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
wonderfully atmospheric music!
This CD is fantastic! I could listen to it for ever! Absolutely amazing!
I can hardly believe that the BBC journalist who reviewed this, felt he had to warn listeners about... Read more
I can hardly believe that the BBC journalist who reviewed this, felt he had to warn listeners about... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Avid Reader
new delights
The word "unique" is hardly ever justified , except when it's the Hilliard Ensemble. Such smooth and mellow voices in perfect harmony never fail to move the soul. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Ms. Fiona Allen
Officium Novum -
was not, for me, as striking or immediately appealing as their first two issues, though Jan Garbarek's performance was of course first class. Read more
Published 19 months ago by M. Teale
Music as it should be
I'd heard this album was high in the Classical Music Charts so although the performers were unknown to me I thought I'd try it. Read more
Published 19 months ago by John Dally
More of the same..
Having already purchased the two previous albums by this collaboration, it must be said this is more of the same. Read more
Published 19 months ago by K
Michael Wadge of Bristol
I have now acquired this CD having previously purchased the first two recordings made by Jan Garbarek with the Hilliard Ensemble. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Michael Wadge
NOW THATS WHAT I CALL "OFFICIUM"VOLUME 3
It proves in these days of "product placxement"that a Label like ECM can keep up anm incredible standard and also develope an idea. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Finbar the looney
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