Stile Antico – Victoria: Tenebrae Responsories (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Stile Antico – Victoria: Tenebrae Responsories (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:11:19 minutes | 1,21 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi

The Tenebræ responsories come from an immense collection of polyphonic music for Holy Week, the Officium Hebdomadæ Sanctæ, published by Victoria in 1585, which brings together several pieces written during the twenty years he spent in Rome. The responsories, brought together here, form part of a much longer Tenebræ, which essentially combined the monastic Hours of matins and lauds, for each of the final three days of the Holy Week. One of the characteristic traits of this service consists in the progressive extinguishing of fifteen votive candles until the church is finally plunged into the darkness from which the ceremony draws its name. The responsory is one part of a much broader liturgy, which was for the most part sung in plainsong. The musical richness of Victoria’s polyphonic compositions made a striking contrast to this liturgy. Such an effect is harder to effect in concert, or even on a recording, where we are outside the liturgical context: here, we have uninterrupted polyphony. While the music is very varied, the uninterrupted use of the same mode and the same textures in three or four pieces throughout these 18 Responsories could, at times, give the impression that one is listening to a single piece. To counteract that impression, here and there the Stile Antico vocal ensemble has introduced extracts from readings of the Lamentations, sung in plainsong at the end of each Responsory. And so the contrast is restored. The programme closes with the luminous and oh-so-soothing six-voice motet for Holy Week O Domine Jesu Christi, again published in Rome in 1576.

Tracklist:
01. Stile Antico – Maundy Thursday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: I. Amicus meus (02:59)
02. Stile Antico – Maundy Thursday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: II. Judas mercator (02:26)
03. Stile Antico – Maundy Thursday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: III. Unus ex discipulis meis (02:26)
04. Stile Antico – Maundy Thursday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: IV. Eram quasi agnus (03:06)
05. Stile Antico – Maundy Thursday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: V. Una hora (02:51)
06. Stile Antico – Maundy Thursday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: VI. Seniores populi (02:40)
07. Stile Antico – Plainsong: Incipit lamentatio Jeremiæ (03:33)
08. Stile Antico – Good Friday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: I. Tamquam ad latronem (03:39)
09. Stile Antico – Good Friday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: II. Tenebræ factæ sunt (04:27)
10. Stile Antico – Good Friday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: III. Animam meam dilectam (04:35)
11. Stile Antico – Good Friday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: IV. Tradiderunt me (02:13)
12. Stile Antico – Good Friday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: V. Jesum tradidit impius (03:03)
13. Stile Antico – Good Friday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: VI. Caligaverunt oculi mei (04:28)
14. Stile Antico – Plainsong: De lamentatione Jeremiæ (03:42)
15. Stile Antico – Holy Saturday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: I. Recessit pastor noster (03:00)
16. Stile Antico – Holy Saturday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: II. O vos omnes (03:05)
17. Stile Antico – Holy Saturday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: III. Ecce quomodo moritur (03:26)
18. Stile Antico – Holy Saturday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: IV. Astiterunt reges terræ (02:05)
19. Stile Antico – Holy Saturday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: V. Æstimatus sum (02:45)
20. Stile Antico – Holy Saturday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: VI. Sepulto Domino (02:49)
21. Stile Antico – Plainsong: De lamentatione Jeremiæ Prophetæ (04:08)
22. Stile Antico – Motet: O Domine Jesu Christe (03:43)

Download: