Editorial Reviews

Recordings of Renaissance sacred polyphony may generally be divided into those displaying sensuous surface beauty and those embodying the latest research, but this gorgeous Spanish disc (with mostly English performers) scores on both counts. Francisco Guerrero (ca. 1528-1599) was a composer active in Seville, a student of and successor to Cristóbal de Morales. He is less well-known than either Morales or Tomás Luis de Victoria, and his works are still being uncovered -- this recording contains three hymns by the young Guerrero, discovered in manuscript by conductor Michael Noone. The program contains a mass, the "Missa Super Flumina Babylonis" (or River of Babylon Mass), a cantus firmus mass interspersed with hymns, plainchant, and a few instrumental pieces. The separation of the mass sections is in line with the way they would originally have been performed. The mass is accompanied by an instrumental ensemble -- the British group His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts -- while the hymns are sung a cappella. This is surprising for the average listener raised on a cappella performances of the Renaissance mass, but more and more performers are using instruments, and the soaring energy of these performances makes a strong musical case for the procedure. Even more unfamiliar is the treatment of the hymns, which are sung in alternation with sections of chant. These chant sections are sung by one ensemble, Schola Antiqua, while the choral sections are performed by a different group, Ensemble Plus Ultra -- a surprising sound, but an authentic one according to director Michael Noone, who wrote the booklet notes (in Spanish, English, French, and German; the music's texts appear only in Latin). The booklet goes into a good deal of detail about Guerrero and about how these particular pieces came to be recorded. This release is thus of a good deal of interest to specialists, but the ordinary listener who enjoys choral music of the Renaissance can luxuriate in the sheer beauty of the polyphony, which has the density of Victoria's writing without the pervasive darkness, and of the singing of the 10-person, mixed-gender Ensemble Plus Ultra, which blends its mostly two-per-part lines with superb control and brings richness and momentum to the joining of forces with the instrumental group. The sound is excellent, with an imposing but not cavernous cathedral environment leaving room for the expressiveness of the singers. James Manheim, All Music Guide

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