Palestrina: Missa Hodie Christus natus est; Stabat Mater; Lasus: Missa Bell' Amfitrit' altera

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Music reviews of Palestrina: Missa Hodie Christus natus est; Stabat Mater; Lasus: Missa Bell' Amfitrit' altera

Music Review: HOW LUCKY WE ARE
Rating: 5 Stars

I certainly remember singing in the Palestrina mass here and in the Stabat Mater: I can't be sure about the Lassus Mass. To me, these two contemporaries are as distinct in their musical personalities as Bach and Handel or as Haydn and Mozart. Interested music lovers without a lifelong background in music of this type may or may not derive some enlightenment from Jeremy Summerly's short liner note, which obviously commands respect as the statement of so distinguished a specialist in the period, but which is still perhaps a little too concerned with telling us how we should evaluate these masters. He makes a good point, if not terribly clearly, when he says `Palestrina's contrapuntal lines are seamless whereas Lassus's voice-leading is frequently disjunct'. For me, that comes down to `Lassus breaks up the vocal line more often', and very strikingly too with antiphonal responses between the parts of a kind that almost anticipate Handel. As a generalisation, inevitably a bit superficial but maybe helpful nevertheless, Lassus is rather more emotional in his idiom than Palestrina. Emotion in Palestrina runs deep but his perfect self-control never fails, even in the profound and depthlessly melancholy Stabat Mater.

For me Summerly is more attuned by temperament to Lassus. His renderings have an intense feel to them, and he does not let the music simply drift into our consciousness as Willcocks does in his celestial reading of the great Missa Papae Marcelli, happily still available in a couple of unlikely combinations with other works. I see very little point in elaborate analysis of these great pieces as if they were as familiar as Beethoven's Fifth. The real point to make is that these are distinguished and eloquent performances by distinguished and expert specialists, and that we are still being given the opportunity to educate and edify ourselves by the admirable Naxos organisation, whatever the current economics (reportedly dire) of the classical music business.

Summerly is better at the music than at the note-writing, but obviously I am glad of any glimpses into his mind as an interpreter. I'm not quite sure how to take what he says about the harmonies in the Stabat Mater, viz that they are `overtly modal'. This stuff is all modal surely? I can never either remember which mode is mixodorian, hypophrygian or whatever, or even be bothered to remind myself. Harmony is one of the most powerful tools of expression whatever you call it. The text of the Mass is not provided but the Stabat Mater is there with translation. It now seems to me a really powerful piece of degenerate Latin, but be advised that stanzas 7 and 9 as printed here are slightly mispunctuated, the error being carried over into the translation. The difference is only minor, but the full stop should come at the end of the third line in both, as in all the other stanzas. Do the same with the English in both places, and strike out the words `I am' at the start of line 4 of stanza 9.

The recording is excellent. I have no wish to hawk Palestrina, Lassus and the divine liturgy in any market place, but I don't know how long we are going to go on getting treasures like this, so I have at least bought the record.

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