Editorial Reviews

Moon, Sun & All Things is the second installment in Hyperion's Baroque Music in Latin America series featuring the talents of Jeffrey Skidmore and his extraordinary Baroque ensemble, Ex Cathedra. Like its predecessor, New World Symphonies, this volume is drawn from the same seemingly inexhaustible spring of Baroque sacred music composed south of the border that has resulted in a slew of interesting offerings in recent times. Even as Skidmore was in Bolivia researching this disc, he ran into the group Florilegium, which was recording its Bolivian Baroque for Channel Classics. Be that as it may, there appears to be plenty of this music to go around; of the 16 selections on the disc, only the Quecha-language chorus "Hanacpachap cussicuinin" seems to have been recorded before, and that's because Skidmore also picked it to open New World Symphonies. The Manuel de Zumaya piece "Albricas, mortales!" sounds a lot like his recessional "Angelicas milicias," and while these works are closely related, they are not quite the same.

It's not hard to see why this music is so appealing -- the fluid polyphonic language of Western Baroque combines with the snappy, short-breathed indigenous music (and language) of Aztec and Mayan peoples like peanut butter does with chocolate -- you don't think it would taste good, but it does. Moon, Sun & All Things is organized to fit the liturgy of Vespers, with appropriate chant incipits taken from the feast day service for St. Ignatius Loyola. Added are a number of villancicos, which in this context are sacred pieces designed as entertainment, incorporating local dialects and the rhythmic profile of popular music within the regions represented.

As beautifully performed and recorded as all of this music is, there are standout tracks nonetheless, such as the lively coplas "!Salga el torrilo hosquillo!" of Diego José de Salazar and "!Ay Andar!" of Juan de Araujo. Among sleeper "hits" here are the works by Francisco Lopez Capillas, a name unknown even to listeners who fancy Latin American Baroque music already -- his settings of the "Laudate Dominum" and the "Magnificat" are both deeply felt and emotionally moving pieces. The listener will want to take a break around Hernando Franco's "Dios Itlaco nantzine" as, like rich chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, Moon, Sun & All Things can be a bit much in the long haul. Nevertheless, taken in at least two helpings, it's delicious, and it sounds terrific in the SACD format. Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide

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