Music for Compline

Music for Compline

Music for Compline
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Music CD Cover

Brand: STILE ANTICO
Composer: Thomas Tallis
Composer: William Byrd
Composer: John Sheppard
Composer: Hugh Aston
Composer: Robert White
Composer: Plainchant
Performer: Stile Antico
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2007-01-16
Music Label: Harmonia Mundi USA
Soundtracks:
  1. Libera nos. I & II (John Sheppard)
  2. Salva nos, Domine (plainchant)
  3. Christe, qui lux es et dies (William Byrd)
  4. In pace in idipsum (John Sheppard)
  5. In manus tuas (Thomas Tallis)
  6. Jesu, salvator saeculi, verbum (John Sheppard)
  7. In manus tuas I (John Sheppard)
  8. In manus tuas II (John Sheppard)
  9. Miserere mihi, Domine (plainchant)
  10. Miserere nostri, Domine (Thomas Tallis0
  11. Misere mihi, Domine (William Byrd)
  12. In pace in idipsum (Thomas Tallis)
  13. Christe, qui lux es et dies (Robert White)
  14. Veni, Domine (plainchant)
  15. Nunc dimittis Gradulia I (William Byrd)
  16. Te lucis ante terminum festal (Thomas Tallis)
  17. Gaude, virgo mater Christi (Hugh Aston)

Free Music Notes for Music for Compline

Free Music Review: English Renaissance vocal music of stunning beauty
Hit: 5 Stars

If the Beach Boys at their most sublime (say on Don't Worry Baby or Let Him Run Wild) or their artistic model, The Four Freshmen, doubled their forces and then sang their most ravishing harmonies in a perfect acoustic venue recorded with the latest multichannel technology, one might have some idea of what Stile Antico has achieved on this gorgeous recording. They have recorded a program of 16th and 17th century polyphony written by England's finest composers of the era for the office of Compline, the last of the daily monastic hours and a lovely form of prayer for the night. The composers include John Sheppard, William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, Robert White and Hugh Aston. Interspersed are various examples of plainchant, which serve to highlight the complexity and heighten the beauty of the composed pieces.

All of the music on this disc essentially comes from the Catholic sphere of 16th century England, a time of great religious turmoil during those pre-Reformation days. The pieces recorded here were written while religous strife roiled England. Church music was profoundly impacted by the oscillating religious beliefs that were variously associated with the late liturgical Catholicism of Henry VIII (despite his break with Rome in 1534), the puritanical Protestanism under the young Edward VI, the fervent return to Catholicism of Queen Mary (in which she burned at the stake those Protestants who stood against her and reinstated the elaborate music and ceremonies of the old Catholic rites) and the moderate Protestanism of Elizabeth, which continues to define Anglicanism to this day. These pieces were not all written under the rule of a Catholic monarch. Subtle differences can be heard with careful and sensitive listening. The Reformed church eventually did away with Compline, enfolding it into Evensong.

A substantial portion of the Service of Compline consists of a number of antiphons, responsories and a hymn as well as psalms recited to plainsong. Compline varied significantly less than the other monastic hours according to the season. There is a real sense of continuity amongst these beautiful pieces. As performed by Stile Antico, it is as if they were the individual movements of one aesthetically unified vocal symphony. That makes this recording incomparably more beautiful, and much more pleasing to the intellect. This disc represents Stile Antico's debut for Harmonia Mundi. They had previously collaborated with Sting on his Songs from the Labyrinth Dowland project, performing his brilliant Elizabethan era lute songs. The present disc has won numerous awards and it's easy to see why. The sound of the CD is absolutely resplendent, with great immediacy and presence. The recording venue (All Hallows Gospel Oak in London) has a warm, reverberant sound that lends an air of mystery to the recording.

This is a superb recording of Renaissance vocal music from a new, young group. If you like this sort of music, you will enjoy this greatly. Strongly recommended.

Mike Birman

Music for Compline Poster

On its spectacular debut recording, the exciting young British vocal group stile antico presents a program of English Renaissance music associated with the office of Compline, the service that ends the monastic liturgical day. A who's-who of 16th-century British composers--including Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, and John Sheppard--is represented here by hymns, antiphons, responsories, motets, and psalms: the occasion not only for music of intimacy, elegance, and reflection, but for flights of breathtaking canonic and contrapuntal invention and harmonic daring.

Stile Antico is an ensemble of young British singers, fast gaining recognition as one of the most original and exciting new voices in its field. In 2005 the group won the inaugural Audience Prize at the Early Music Network International Young Artists? Competition, drawing critical praise for its ?wonderfully vivid singing? and ?perfectly focused and ideally balanced voices.? Since this success, Stile Antico has appeared throughout the UK, including at the City of London, Lake District Summer Music and Beverley and East Riding Festivals; engagements for 2007 include the York Early Music Festival. The group has also collaborated with Sting on tour in his project Songs from the Labyrinth, performing lute songs by John Dowland.

Working without a conductor, the members of Stile Antico rehearse and perform as chamber musicians, each contributing artistically to the musical result. Their repertoire ranges from the glorious legacy of the English Tudor composers to the works of the Flemish and Spanish schools and the music of the early Baroque. They are passionate about the need to communicate with their audiences, combining thoughtful programming with direct, expressive performances. They are also committed to developing their educational work, for which they have received generous funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

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