New York Polyphony – And the Sun Darkened: Music for Passiontide (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

GRAMMY-nominated vocal quartet New York Polyphony today announced the release of And the sun darkened, a new album out Friday, March 5, 2021 on BIS Records. The album marks a return to form for the ensemble – a 58-minute program of new and ancient works organized around texts appropriate for Passiontide, the last two weeks of the Lenten season in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Champions of rare and rediscovered works of antiquity, New York Polyphony presents the world premiere recording Loyset Compère’s Officium de Cruce, an elaborate, multi-movement motet cycle that rivals the masterpieces of Franco-Flemish contemporaries Pierre de la Rue and Josquin des Prez, both of whom also appear on the album. Additional works include Andrew Smith’s Salme 55, Adrian Willaert’s Pater noster-Ave Maria, and Cyrillus Kreek’s Taaveti laul 22.

Officium de Cruce is an anomaly for its time – a long-form dramatic work likely intended for private devotional use. Composed for Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan from 1466 until his assassination a decade later, it depicts the events of the crucifixion of Jesus. The compositional techniques Compère employed, as well as the work’s overall expressive dimension, foreshadowed the innovations of Adrian Willaert and Nicolas Gombert a generation later. “The dramatic form of Officium de Cruce is, in a sense, a prototype for the madrigal cycles that began to appear in the late 16th century,” explains New York Polyphony countertenor Geoffrey Williams. “It has an expressive arc that is deeply affecting and innovative for composers of Compère’s generation.”

Tracklist:
01. New York Polyphony – Crux triumphans (06:09)
02. New York Polyphony – Magnus es tu Domine – Tu pauperum refugium: II. Tu pauperum refugium (03:18)
03. New York Polyphony – Salme 55 (12:40)
04. New York Polyphony – Pater noster & Ave Maria: I. Pater noster (04:38)
05. New York Polyphony – Pater noster & Ave Maria: II. Ave Maria (03:42)
06. New York Polyphony – Taaveti laul 22 (04:48)
07. New York Polyphony – Officium de Cruce: Pt. 1, In nomine Jesu (02:11)
08. New York Polyphony – Officium de Cruce: Pt. 2, Adoramus te Christe (01:44)
09. New York Polyphony – Officium de Cruce: Pt. 3, Patris sapientia (01:50)
10. New York Polyphony – Officium de Cruce: Pt. 4, Hora prima (01:46)
11. New York Polyphony – Officium de Cruce: Pt. 5, Crucifige clamitant (02:16)
12. New York Polyphony – Officium de Cruce: Pt. 6, Hora sexta (02:11)
13. New York Polyphony – Officium de Cruce: Pt. 7, Hora nona (02:25)
14. New York Polyphony – Officium de Cruce: Pt. 8, De cruce deponitur (02:18)
15. New York Polyphony – Officium de Cruce: Pt. 9, Hora completorii (02:51)
16. New York Polyphony – O salutaris hostia (03:22)