Canticum Canticorum

Canticum Canticorum

Canticum Canticorum
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Composer: Orlande de Lassus
Composer: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Composer: Heinrich Schutz
Composer: Domenico Mazzocchi
Composer: Healey Willan
Composer: William [composer] Walton
Composer: Thomas Tomkins
Composer: Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Composer: Marin Marais
Composer: John Dunstable
Composer: Henry Purcell
Performer: Les Voix Baroques
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); Spanish (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2008-03-25
Music Label: ATMA
Soundtracks:
  1. Veni in hortum meum, motet for 5 voices, M. ii (S. v/120)
  2. Osculetur me, motet for 5 voices (from Motets Book IV from Canticis canticorum)
  3. Anima mea liquefacta est, motet for 2 tenors, 2 flutes or cornets & continuo, SWV 263-264 (Op. 6/7-8): Anima mea liquefacta est
  4. Anima mea liquefacta est, motet for 2 tenors, 2 flutes or cornets & continuo, SWV 263-264 (Op. 6/7-8): Adjuro vos
  5. Dialogo della Cantica, for 4 voices & continuo
  6. Rise Up, My Love, My Fair One, motet for chorus, HWC 314
  7. I Beheld Her, Beautiful as a Dove, motet for chorus, HWC 312
  8. Set me as a seal upon thine heart, for chorus
  9. My Beloved Spake Unto Me, for 4 voices & organ
  10. Ego dormio, motet for soprano, alto, tenor, bass & continuo, SWV 63-64 (Op. 4/11-12): Ego dormio
  11. Ego dormio, motet for soprano, alto, tenor, bass & continuo, SWV 63-64 (Op. 4/11-12): Vulnerasti cor meum
  12. Dilecte mi, motet for 3 voices & continuo, H. 436
  13. Quam pulcra es, antiphon for 3 voices, MB 44
  14. My beloved spake, anthem for alto, tenor, 2 basses, chorus, strings & continuo, Z. 28

Music reviews of Canticum Canticorum

Music Review: Quam pulchra est
Rating: 5 Stars

For centuries, biblical scholars have struggled with the Song of Songs. It can't be just a set of love poems, the thinking goes, because then why would it be in the Bible? And if it's not just a set of love poems, what is it? An allegory, is the general answer, of Yahweh's relationship with his people, or Christ's with the church, or even something involving the Virgin Mary. To my mind, the poems are a little too erotic for an allegorical interpretation, but a CD review isn't really the place for a theological discussion. If we're to judge things by their covers, then "Canticum canticorum" leans heavily on the sensual side of the argument, but in fact the various approaches to the Song of Songs all feature here.
Les Voix Baroques here comprise 6 singers (2 sopranos, countertenor, tenor, baritone, and bass-baritone) and 9 instrumentalists, including "guest musical director" Stephen Stubbs. With one voice per part, this allows the recording to come closer to the singers than one would get with a full choir. And that's the first thing you notice here - the immediacy of the voices. It's a gorgeous-sounding disc. The lovely rich sound of the Lassus piece is followed by a much sparer work from his contemporary Palestrina; this latter has a raptness to it, the composer making the most of all the sibilants in the opening line. Following this are two pieces by Schutz, which came as a shock to me because the last Schutz I'd listened to was Philippe Herreweghe's recording of the Opus ultimum; these pieces are much earlier, and are a vivd reminder that he was also a composer of Italian madrigals. Both are for 2 tenors and 2 cornets, and at times they're practically operatic (listen to the cries of "amore" in "Adjuro vos"). Here and in 2 subsequent pieces, it seems that Schutz is the one who most adheres to a sensual interpretation of the Song of Songs. The longish dialogue for soprano and chorus by Mazzocchi is the first on the disc that is strictly religious, although it's not necessarily a Christianity many of us would recognise today: "A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved Christ unto me, He shall lie betwixt my breasts". Somehow this successfully segues into 2 pieces by Healey Willan written nearly 300 years later - the one-voice-per-part makes the difference seem smaller, I suppose. These are lovely; although "in honour of Our Lady" they are romantic pieces. Walton's "Set me as a seal" sounds remarkable here without a big choir; the intimacy of the small setting gives it great power in the line "love is strong as death". I didn't immediately warm to the Tomkins piece that follows, but I think it simply suffered by comparison. Tracks 12 to 14 form a little French section - 2 pieces by Charpentier (with what I presume is authentic French-sounding Latin) with an instrumental by Marais between, a delightful passacaglia for 2 violins that fits perfectly with everything else. Another highlight is the Dunstable piece; the 3 men bring both warmth and gentleness to it. And finally Purcell's "My beloved spake" - the only piece here that I already have in my collection (Decca's Winchester Cathedral one from 1992), which allows a direct comparison and confirms that I find the up-close recording of the voices to be far more successful than the big acoustic of a cathedral.
To sum up: a marvellous disc, bringing together pieces from across the centuries in a well-designed programme, wonderfully sung and well played. I imagine this will end up as one of my highlights for 2008.
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