Perotin

1	Viderunt omnes, organum f
2	Veni creator spiritus, 3-
3	Alleluia, Posui adiutoriu
4	O Maria virginei
5	Dum sigillum summi Patris
6	Isaias cecinit
7	Alleluia, Nativitas, orga
8	Beata viscera, conductus
9	Sederunt principes, gradu
Perotin
1.	Viderunt omnes, organum for 4 voices 11:36
	Composed by Pérotin
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Rogers Covey-Crump, Charles Daniels, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Hilliard Ensemble, David James, Gordon Jones, Mark Padmore and John Potter
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
2.	Veni creator spiritus, 3-part conductus (MS Florencia) 7:31
	Composed by Anonymous, Notre Dame School
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
	Performed by Rogers Covey-Crump, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Hilliard Ensemble, David James and John Potter
3.	Alleluia, Posui adiutorium, organum for 3 voices 7:35
	Composed by Pérotin
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Rogers Covey-Crump, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Hilliard Ensemble, Gordon Jones, Mark Padmore and John Potter
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
4.	O Maria Virginei 4:49
	Composed by Anonymous
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Rogers Covey-Crump, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Hilliard Ensemble and Gordon Jones
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
5.	Dum sigillum summi Patris, conductus for 2 voices 7:40
	Composed by Pérotin
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
	Performed by Rogers Covey-Crump, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Hilliard Ensemble and John Potter
6.	Isaias Cecinit 1:44
	Composed by Anonymous
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
	Performed by Rogers Covey-Crump, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Hilliard Ensemble, David James and John Potter
7.	Alleluia, Nativitas, organum for 3 voices 8:31
	Composed by Pérotin
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Rogers Covey-Crump, Charles Daniels, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Hilliard Ensemble, David James, Gordon Jones, Mark Padmore and John Potter
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
8.	Beata viscera, conductus for solo voice 6:14
	Composed by Pérotin
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Rogers Covey-Crump, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Hilliard Ensemble, David James, Gordon Jones, Mark Padmore and John Potter
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
9.	Sederunt principes, organum for 4 voices 11:54
	Composed by Pérotin
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Rogers Covey-Crump, Charles Daniels, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Hilliard Ensemble, David James, Gordon Jones, Mark Padmore and John Potter
	Conducted by Paul Hillier

Barnes & Noble

Most of us who have ever heard the music of Perotin, a Parisian composer active around 1200, know it from the pioneering 1970s recording of David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London, Music of the Gothic Era. But here Paul Hillier and the Hilliard Ensemble, one of today's preeminent a cappella ensembles, take their turn with Perotin, and what a difference a few years makes. Munrow's recordings, while musically satisfying, were renowned in large degree for their novelty; Hilliard has taken Perotin's remote, intriguing music and turned it into something surprisingly compelling to the modern listener. This is music to set a mood: ethereal, hypnotic, sonorous, and deeply beautiful. Listening to Hilliard's Perotin, one can easily understand how this music sparked the imagination of Steve Reich and other contemporary minimalist composers. There is, remarkably, a stylistic affinity spanning eight centuries. The opening and closing works -- "Viderunt Omnes" and "Sederunt Principes," both four-part organa (a form of early polyphony) -- were written for religious celebrations at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and each is a tour de force of medieval music. Other, smaller-scale works of Perotin and his anonymous contemporaries fill out the middle of the recording, but the two great organa are the highlights, and one will be tempted to listen to them repeatedly. Slip this CD in your player, sit back, and let the centuries melt away. EJ Johnson

Barnes & Noble

For thousands of years, music was monophonic, meaning it consisted of just one melody that was sung or played on its own. Then, around 1200, composers started combining melodies, one on top of the other, to create polyphony and harmony. Perotin was one of the earliest of these pioneers and one of the first composers we know by name. His music is difficult to describe but impossible to forget. Anchored to a droning bass voice, the close-knit harmonies sway and swing. The Hilliard Ensemble sings this ancient music in a way that not only brings it to life but that makes its austere textures sound almost modern. Their tuning -- very tricky with such continuously close harmonies -- is perfect, and their tone has both sinew and suppleness. ECM's recording evokes an appropriate cathedral-like atmosphere without sacrificing clarity. This is an Early Music disc for folks who think they don't like Early Music. Andrew Farach-Colton