Gesualdo: Complete Sacred Music for Five Voices
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CD Details
Composer: Carlo GesualdoConductor: Jeremy Summerly
Performer: Oxford Camerata
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1996-01-04
Music Label: Naxos
Soundtracks:
- Sacrae Cantiones: Illumina faciem tuam
- Sacrae Cantiones: Deus refugium et virtus
- Sacrae Cantiones: Exaudi Deus deprecationem meam
- Sacrae Cantiones: Tribulationem et dolorem
- Sacrae Cantiones: Tribularer si nescirem
- Sacrae Cantiones: Precibus et meritis beatae Mariae
- Sacrae Cantiones: O Crux benedicta
- Sacrae Cantiones: O vos omnes
- Sacrae Cantiones: Dignare me laudare te
- Sacrae Cantiones: Maria mater gratiae
- Sacrae Cantiones: Laboravi in gemitu meo
- Sacrae Cantiones: Ave dulcissima Maria
- Sacrae Cantiones: Domine ne despicias
- Sacrae Cantiones: Peccantem me quotidie
- Sacrae Cantiones: Sancti Spiritus Domine
- Sacrae Cantiones: Hei mihi Domine
- Sacrae Cantiones: Venit lumen tuum Jerusalem
- Sacrae Cantiones: Reminiscere miserationum tuarum
- Sacrae Cantiones: Ave Regina coelorum
Music reviews of Gesualdo: Complete Sacred Music for Five Voices
Music Review: Sacrae Cantiones
Rating: 4 Stars
For those who do not know, Don Carlo Gesualdo (ca. 1561-1613) has the dubious honor of being the only composer who was also a murderer. In 1590, he killed his wife and her lover in cold blood (and rather brutally, I believe) upon discovering them together. It is interesting to speculate that the bizarre qualites of his music owe something to tortured guilt and possible madness resulting from this deed. However, as Jeremy Summerly argues in the liner notes to the CD, that is no reason to take him less than seriously as a composer.
This particular CD is the only complete recording currently available of Gesualdo's Sacrae Cantiones, his first collection of religious motets, pub. 1603, though a few of these pieces can be found filling out other recordings. I'm not really qualified to judge, but this performance seems good to me, clear and well balanced among the different parts. I have seen it argued that Gesualdo intended these pieces to be performed with only one voice taking each part, in which case the Oxford Camerata used 7 too many people; however, I have not heard any other performances, so I can't offer any comparison between the two approaches. My only real criticism is, it would be nice if the text, and perhaps the English translations thereof, had been included.
Personally I like Gesualdo's music because it's noticeably out of the ordinary for the Renaissance period (not that I don't like Palestrina, et. al., too). With all the odd harmonies and chromaticisms he uses, sometimes (to me, at least) it almost even sounds modern. In any case, it's certainly unique, and never grows boring. To all who are interested in Renaissance music, I recommend that you check it out.
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